The Junior Year
by Wicked Wonder
Summary: Does the title help? Sorry for snarking. Read on! Contains slash It's finished! Yeah!
1. August

Rugrats

"The Junior Year"

Series/Sequel: This is the start of the SHHS 'verse. Lots more to follow!

Summary: If you haven't guessed from the title, this features the crew in the 11th grade (or 12th, or 10th, or first year of college).

Rating: M for mild language and mature themes 

Disclaimer: Nick nick nick nick, nick nick nick nick, that's who owns 'em now!

Feedback: Pwease? WickedWonder1979 at hotmail dot com

For: Peri, who cracked the whip on this monster. It's all shiny and pretty 'cause of him, and any mistakes are 'cause I probably didn't heed his advice. Also, for the people that reviewed this when it first went up on (starting in August of '02, oh my god!) and made me want to improve this!

* * *

**August**

(Beep!)

Tommy Pickles heard the soft tones of his alarm. Groaning, he rolled over and hoped that his brother Dil would get up and turn it off. Apparently, Dil was hoping the same thing, because a minute later, the loud sounds of U2 blared through the room. As usual, Tommy was startled and fell out of bed.

Dil opened one sleepy eye to see Tommy struggling on the floor and cursing. Satisfied that Tommy wasn't dead, Dil rolled back over and went back to sleep.

"Boys!" Their mom called up the steps. "Get a move on!"

Finally getting untangled, Tommy tossed the covers back on the bed and stumbled into the shower. After his usual routine of dressing in a blue jersey and jeans and gelling his hair just so, he relinquished the bathroom to Dil while he headed downstairs to grab a bowl of cereal.

Their mother was already in the kitchen. "Morning, Mom," Tommy said, as he sat down and started pouring a bowl of Craklin' Sugar Chruncheez.

"Good morning, Tommy. Wouldn't you like something hot, instead?"

"No, that's okay," he replied quickly. "You know, summer and all."

"Good point," she replied absentmindedly. "Is your brother in the shower?"

"Yeah. Hope he hurries up; we're supposed to meet everyone before school." He shoveled in the cereal as fast as he could eat it.

"Here I am," Dil said, sitting down at the table. His hair was still wet, but he was otherwise ready. He was wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and some jean shorts.

"Hurry! Here, have a Pop-Tart." Tommy threw a pack of them into Dil's hand.

"Do I even have time to toast the suckers?" Dil complained.

"Yes, go ahead. I'll grab my backpack." Tommy took the steps two at a time and picked up the beat up bag off of the floor and headed back downstairs. When he came back in the kitchen, his mom was sitting by herself, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Now where did Dil go?"

"Oh, he's standing at your car. Have a good day."

"You, too. Tell Dad I said bye."

Tommy ran out to his car to see Dil climbing off of the hood. "Did you get what you needed?" Dil asked.

"Yeah. Ready to go?" Tommy got into the driver's seat and fastened his seatbelt.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he questioned, glancing at Dil before starting the car.

"It's just that… I wouldn't have been as popular last year if you wouldn't have been there.""The same way it was for us if it hadn't have been for Angelica and Susan. And thank goodness Angelica decided that she liked us before we entered high school."

"True. But did you ever get the feeling that your popularity was based on a lie?"

"Can't really say I've ever felt that. What brought this on, Dil?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Tommy saw Dil frown and look thoughtful. "I don't know. I guess I've been thinking about it for a while."

Tommy felt a little guilty that he hadn't spent time with his little brother lately. He had spent the summer working full time and hanging with his friends and girlfriend.

"You know, you could have come to me earlier if you were feeling that way," Tommy finally said, punching Dil lightly without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah, I know."

00000

For once, Phil DeVille woke up before his alarm went off. He used that opportunity to make sure that all of his things were together before he had to get up and start the day. After he was satisfied, he climbed back in bed for… ten more minutes of sleep.

A knock sounded on the door. "Phil? Are you up?"

"Hold on!" He slipped on a shirt and opened the door. His twin Lil was standing there, fully dressed in a green blouse and skirt."Are you trying to be late today? We're supposed to meet everyone!"

"I know, I didn't forget. I'll be in and out in ten minutes, 'kay? Oh, good morning."

She smiled. "Good morning, Phil. Now get a move on!"

As promised, he was downstairs and ready in ten minutes. After all, he was a guy. His dad was downstairs, making pancakes.

"Hey, Phil. Sleep well?"

"Yeah. Is Betty already gone?"

"She had a seminar. But she wants you guys to know that she hopes that you have a good time at school today."

"Will do," Lil and Phil said in unison. 

"Okay." A horn honked outside. "That must be Tommy. See you, Dad."

"Love you guys."

"We love you too," they chorused as they ran to the door. Outside, Tommy and Dil were sitting in the car, looking impatient.

Phil and Lil got into the car and greeted them as Tommy pulled off. 

"How's your morning been so far?" Phil asked Tommy. 

In the rear view mirror, Phil watched Tommy's expression change into a grimace. "The usual. I woke up to 'Beautiful Day', but since I'm on my way to school, it can't be all that good."

"At least we'll get caught up on everyone. It seems weird that we haven't seen Chuck and Kim since May." Lil smiled at the thought of their friends.

"Yeah. I wish we could have spent the summer in Paris," Dil, who had been quiet (for him) spoke up.

"No kidding. It doesn't seem fair that we've been overseas and can't even remember it," Tommy groused. "Hey, look! There's everyone."

After Tommy parked, everyone leapt out of the car and started greeting their friends, Chuck and Kim Finster, excitedly.

"You did not write once, Kim!" Lil exclaimed, hugging her best friend.

"Well, you didn't either," Kim said, defending herself. 

Meanwhile, the guys were rebonding. "So, what did you do the whole summer?" Chuck asked, turning to Tommy.

"Worked, went out with the gang, worked, went out with Lilly, worked some more."

"Fun," Chuck said sarcastically. "How about you, Phil?"

"'Bout the same as Tommy. I worked because my parents wouldn't buy Lil and I a car unless we both kicked in on the insurance."

"So, you see anyone?"

"Yeah," Phil said nervously, hoping that they'd change the subject. "So, Chuck, did you hear from Susan at all?"

"Yeah, we corresponded all summer. We're getting together tonight before she goes up to school."

"Seems like all of us had a cool summer," Tommy commented. "We have to get together to catch up in detail."

"Sounds good to me." The bell rang. "Shoot! We'll talk later, okay?" Chuck ran ahead of them. As a senior, he wouldn't see the group again until school was out.

"Man, I wish this was my last year in high school," Phil said to no one in particular, as they walked inside the building.

"Telling you. But then we'd be stressing over college apps and what we want to do with our lives and yadda yadda." Kim ran inside the building.

"True. Bye, Dil," Tommy said, as his brother ran down to his homeroom.

00000

By an amazing coincidence, Tommy, Lil, Kim, and Phil were all in the same homeroom, something that hadn't happened in all their years of school. They made it there and grabbed seats together as the bell rang. 

The teacher came walking in. "Class, come to attention. My name is Mrs Robingson." After she said that, she took roll, sat down and said, "Carry on."

Kim immediately turned back to their group. "So, tell me- did you do anything fun this summer?"

Tommy snorted. "Like I told Chuck, I worked."

"So did we," Phil and Lil said together. Tommy and Kim chuckled a little as they gave each other what was referred to as their 'twin look'.

"Well, I had fun. It's funny, though. Mom and Dad kept telling us about the first time we were in Paris, but I don't remember anything. And Mom had the nerve to suggest that we go to Reptarland!" Everyone burst out laughing. Kim tried to look indignant, but was soon howling with them.

"So," Lil said after they had calmed down, "Did you and Tim keep in touch over the summer?"

"Yes, we wrote back and forth. We're supposed to double with Chuck and Susan tonight."

"It's funny to think how incestuous our group turned out," Phil commented.

"How do you figure?" Tommy asked.

"Well, you're dating Lil, Chuck's dating Susan Carmichael, Kim's dating Tim…"

"That theory leaves out you. And Angelica. And Dil!" Lil protested.

"We all know Dil's a playa," Phil said.

"That sounds so wrong, coming out of your mouth," Kim laughed. "Are you the mack daddy of SHHS?"

"Yep, that's me, I'm the daddy mack."

They laughed as the bell rang.

"Well, I'm off to AP Science," Tommy said.

"I'm in Trig," Phil groaned.

"I have Advanced Foods next," Kim said happily.

"So do I, " Lil said unhappily. "Cooking is not something I'm good at."

Kim put her arm around Lil. "It'll be okay. We'll be partners. Okay guys, see you at lunch."

00000

The girls walked down the hall, waving at people that they knew."So, tell me, Lil- who is Phil seeing? Not that I'm interested for myself, but it's odd that he hasn't said anything about the person he's dating."

"You know, " she said thoughtfully, "I don't know that he is seeing someone. If he is, he's a better secret keeper than I am. Hold on, I need to stop in the bathroom."Once they were in there, Lil pulled out a brush and made sure that her thick brown hair was still in place. Kim glanced in the mirror to make sure that her two spiky ponytails weren't doing anything unusual. She also pulled down her shirt, which as usual, had a cartoon cat on the front.

"Well, how are things going between you and Tommy?" Kim asked, as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick. 

"Good. You know, we celebrated our 6th year anniversary over the summer. It was so cool. We had a candlelight dinner and afterwards he gave a necklace." Lil reached under her shirt and pulled out a locket on a silver chain. "Inside it has our initials and the date we first went out."

"That is so sweet! Now I'm going to go and hit Tim tonight. For our anniversary, he gave me a card that has those animals with the big eyes on them."

Lil laughed. "Well, I guess that he didn't get any that night."

"Or any other," Kim said. "I know that it's weird, that I'm dating a college man and if he gets to third base, it's a good thing. But I know my limits, and he respects that."

"Well, Tommy and I aren't even at the point where we can talk about it, let alone act on it." Lil fell silent, then she said, "Do you think… oh, never mind."

"What?" Kim looked around the bathroom. "Go ahead, no one's in here."

"I was just wondering… do you think that Angelica and Susan have, you know?"

Kim made a face involuntarily. "I would ask Susan, but seeing as how she's been seeing my brother for years now, I'm not sure I would like her answer."

"True. But I was thinking that I wanted to… talk to someone about getting the Pill. Just in case."

"Why don't you go to your mom? I would go to mine," Kim suggested.

Lil snorted. "Go to Betty? She would preach about the double standard and end up with the 'men are our slaves' rant. I wonder how she ever ended up marrying my father in the first place. And no, I can't go to my dad. He would cry or something equally embarrassing."

"Okay, what about…" As Kim was about to say something else, the warning bell rang. "Dang! We've got to get to class." They raced down the hall and made it in the class just as the bell rang.

00000

As the Foods teacher droned on, Lil zoned out. She knew that Kim would pay attention enough for the both of them. She had wanted to tell Kim everything in the bathroom earlier, but the school wasn't exactly known for its ability to keep secrets. Lil thought back to a hot day in July…

_00000_

_"Come in," Tommy told Lil. She smiled at the nervousness on his face, but as she looked in the room, her smile broadened. Tommy's whole kitchen had been redecorated with candles, candles, and more candles. She could smell something really good._

_She said the first thing that popped into her head. "Did you cook?"_

_"Yeah, I did." He grew even more nervous._

_"That's so sweet!" Lil kissed him on the cheek._

_"Thanks. Do you want to eat now?"Tommy pulled out her chair and pulled a casserole out of the oven. "It's spaghetti pie. I got the recipe from the Internet, so don't worry."_

_"I wasn't." The food was so good, and they talked about everything that night. After dinner, Tommy put on some music and they sat in the living room._

_"This is so cool! But where is everyone?" Lil said, looking around._

_"Dil's at his friend Joe's, and my parents are at this inventor's workshop. They won't be back until tomorrow."_

_"And they let you stay at the house by yourself?"_

_"Actually, Phil told them that I would be staying over your house tonight."_

_"He helped you plan this? You guys are so great."_

_"And that's not all," Tommy said in an announcer's voice. He pulled out a long box and handed it to Lil._

_She opened it with shaking hands. Inside was a locket that had their initials in it and the date that they started going out. "Oh my God, Tommy!" Lil sat back, speechless. Then she recovered somewhat and added, "It's beautiful. Thank you. Put it on me?"_

_He slipped it around her neck and fastened it. Wordlessly, she turned to face him. Their lips met softly. They slowly kissed and stretched out on the couch. Lil's eyes were closed, and she felt like she was drowning in a lake of feelings. She wasn't aware of anything for a long while, only marveling that heat, friction, wetness, and pressure could make you feel like that.Slowly, Lil felt Tommy's hands start to move from her sides to her back, and down to the hem of her shirt. Instead of being alarmed or upset, she reached down and unbuttoned her shirt without breaking the kiss. When she felt the soft touch of fingertips on the sides of her stomach and on the bottom of her ribcage, she sighed and tried to unbutton his shirt without disturbing his hands. He unbuttoned it quickly and tossed it on the ground, and turned his attention back to her. He started tracing his way to her shoulders, and she started running her hands lightly down his back. _

_He slipped her bra straps down her arms, and she arched her back slightly so that he could reach around. He took the unspoken hint and unfastened her bra with a minimum of difficulty. He slipped it off and it joined the shirts on the floor. _

_"You're… you're so pretty, Lilly," Tommy said hoarsely. She opened her eyes to see him, and his eyes were open as she'd ever saw them. They were a shocky blue, and when he looked into her eyes, she shivered._

_He touched her reverently, while still kissing her. Their kisses were almost frantic, and Lil was flying and not thinking about anything other than what was happening at that moment._

_Suddenly Tommy sat up, surprising her to the point where she lay there for a minute. "Did… did I do something wrong?" she whispered._

_"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just… I want… oh, hell, I don't have any, you know. Protection."_

_Lil realized what he was talking about and immediately the blush started rising from her chest and ended up in her cheeks."I always wondered where your blushes started," he said absently. Lil realized that she was sitting naked to the waist and reached for her bra and shirt._

_"I… I liked that. What we did," she admitted. After all, she couldn't blush any harder, anyway._

_"So did I. But we've got to be careful." He reached for his shirt and stood up. Kissing her quickly, he said, "Let me get my stuff, and then we can go to your house."_

_"I'll clean up the kitchen," Lil volunteered."You don't have to."_

_"I know, but I'll feel that I've done something to help this evening. Thanks again." They kissed again before he went upstairs and she went into the kitchen._

_Cleanup in the kitchen was easy. Lil made sure all of the candles were blown out before she washed the dishes and put the leftovers away. After everything was finished, she waited in the living room, making sure there was no evidence of what had happened there. She was about to call Tommy to tell him that she was ready when she heard a soft moan come from upstairs. That immediately made the blush came back. Lil almost got the courage to write a note and walk home when Tommy came down the stairs, duffel in hand._

_"Sorry I took so long."_

_"That's okay."He locked up the house and they walked next door in silence. Before she opened the door, Tommy said quietly, "You know I love you, right?"_

_"I love you too, Tommy."_

_"And I respect you. I won't do anything you don't want to do."_

00000

As she thought about that night now, she remembered what Tommy had said. She hadn't felt that Tommy was taking advantage of her, because she had wanted to do the things that they had done that night. She did need to find someone to talk to, though, because if she ended up in that situation again, she didn't want to have to stop because they weren't prepared.

"Earth to Lil! Girl, I've watched you smile three different ways, blush, and frown, all in 15 minutes. What are you thinking about?"

She started slightly. "N… nothing. Did the teacher say anything important?"

"Don't try to be evasive with me. I know you too well."

"Okay. It's just that… you can't tell anyone. At all. Not even Tim. And we can't talk about it here."

"Okay, where?"

"After school. At my house, all right?"

"Deal."

00000

"… and so, Archimedes was really a precursor to modern mathematicians. Any questions?"

No one raised a hand, so the teacher said, "All right, class, you may use this time to study. Quietly, please."

The students began talking quietly. Chuck glanced over the assignment. It was pretty straightforward, so he stuck it in his bag and pulled up a sketch book and turned to a blank sheet of paper. As he doodled, he thought about random things, like how lucky he was that his father had decided to skip him ahead in middle school, from 6th to 8th grade, so that he was graduating early despite his late birthday. About how much fun Paris was, but how was he glad to be back with his friends. And mostly, how he was very excited to his see his girlfriend.

He glanced down to look at the sketch he had drawn. It was a closeup of Susan's face, looking alert, wise, and caring all at once.

"Hey."He looked up to see a guy standing by his desk. "Hi," Chuck said.

"I was wondering, did you have a clue of how to do the homework? I would stoop so low to ask the teacher, but I think my brain would melt from the answer."

Chuck laughed. "Sure, have a seat. My name's Chuck Finster."

"Joe Wellton. Nice to meet you."

"I haven't seen you in my classes before. Are you new here?"

"No. It's just that over the summer, I decided to start getting the hard classes out of the way before my senior year. I'm really a junior."

"So, you must know my sister, Kim. And my friends Phil and Lil DeVille, and Tommy Pickles."

"Yeah, we had classes together. And Tommy's little brother Dylan is like my best friend.""It's a wonder we haven't met before," Chuck mused.

"Different paths, I guess," Joe shrugged.

"True. Well, I actually wasn't planning to do this assignment until I got home from school today. If you want, I can just tell you the basics…"

"That'd be great." Joe sat down at the desk next to Chuck's and pulled out his math book.

As Chuck went over the homework, Joe took brief notes in the margins. "Y'know, I might have a chance of pulling this off. Thanks again."

"No problem. We'll have to study together sometimes."

"I'd like that." The bell rang. "Well, gotta run. Next class is AP English."

"Mine's Economics."

"See you later."

Chuck put everything in his messenger bag and walked down the hall. He passed Lil and Kim, who as usual, were talking a mile a minute. He waved to them and got friendly waves and smiles in return. As he took his seat in Econ, he thought about how things had changed. But change was a good thing, right?

00000

"Hi Dylan!" Meagan smiled at him as he walked into the classroom.

"Hey Meg. How was your summer?" He smiled automatically as he found a seat.

"Long. Boring. How about yours?"

"About the same." He looked up to see two more girls walk in. They immediately took desks surrounding him. 

"So, Dylan," Meg began, "What are you doing today after school?"

"My friends are doing this 'let's get together and recap the whole summer' thing. After that, me and my friend Joe are hanging."

"Oh. Because, me and Tara and Lori here, we're having this small party. And we wanted you to come."

"Maybe next time, okay?" He watched as the disappointed look on Tara's pointed face turned happy again. "Great!"

The bell rang, and Dil turned to face the teacher. "Hello, I'm Mrs Tuttle. This is US History. Please get out your books." As they did, Dil noticed Lori gazing at him. Well, it was really more like staring, and Dil was starting to get the expression 'caught in the headlights'. She finally dragged her eyes off him when the teacher started lecturing about why US History was important.

35 minutes later, the teacher concluded her lecture. Right after she finished, the bell rang. Everyone stood up and stretched as Mrs Tuttle called out, "Please read Chapter 1!"

"Man, this is not going to be a fun class," Tara sighed. "I'm going to start carrying a pillow."

"I'm bringing a sleep mask," Meg said.

"I'll wear pajamas," Lori piped up.

"Forget that. I'm just wearing a nightcap." Dil smirked as all three of the girls turned red.

"Dylan! You are so bad," Meg sputtered.

"And you know it. See you later."

Walking down the halls, he spotted his best friend, Joe. He waved to him and Joe came trotting over. "How's your morning so far?" Dil asked.

"Good. I'm in Calc with Chuck Finster."

"That's cool. I just have," Dil dropped his voice, "The Three Females of Doom."

"I still want to know why exactly you call them that." Joe laughed.

"Tell you after school, 'kay?""Sure. My house, right?" Joe touched his arm and walked away.

"Yeah. See you!" Dil shouted over the crowd. He started running towards the gym, where his next class was. He didn't even notice Tommy, who was walking with Phil.

00000

"That is Dil, right? Tallish guy with red hair, also known as my brother?" Tommy watched as Dil sped by him.

"I'm sure he just didn't see you. Wonder where he's going?" Phil craned his head around to see.

"He's a sophomore, so, probably to gym. We'd better step on it if we don't want to be late for class."

"I wouldn't mind being late for this. Why did I let you talk me into taking French, anyway?"

Tommy grinned at him. "Because I'm hella cool."

"If you say so, Pickles."

They walked in and took their seats. Kim walked in, dragging Lil behind her. They snagged seats next to the guys. "Anyone wanna guess why we have so many classes together this year?" Kim asked.

"I'm thinking, new scheduler, doesn't know our illustrative history," Phil smirked. "And I'm not going to be the one to fill her in."

"Hey, Lilly, you all right?" Tommy turned to Lil, who was sitting quietly. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Tired, though. I wish our school was normal and let us start off with a half day instead of jumping right in."

The bell rang and the teacher walked in with what appeared to be a riding crop. "Hello class. I am Ms Pieff!" She smacked the riding crop against her leg, causing the whole class to jump. Tommy pulled out a piece of paper and wrote, 'I would not want to get on her bad side. Kim, are you cheating, just a little, taking this class?' Tommy passed the note to Phil first, so that he could add what he wanted. They always carried on written conversations in class.

As Ms Pieff droned on and on, the small piece of paper was passed back and opened. Tommy noted that Phil had said that he wanted his own riding crop, Lil had just wrote 'ew' under Phil's comment, and Kim had scribbled that she would help all of them, although her French wasn't the best.

"All right, class, pair up to start going over vocabulary."

"I got Kim!" Phil shouted.

"Way to make your friends feel wanted," Tommy mock-pouted.

"And your own twin. The shame!" Lil smiled and turned to Tommy.

"Um, can you pronounce any of this stuff?" he whispered to her.

"No. Let's pull our desks next to Phil and Kim and just repeat after them."

That's what they did for the rest of class. When the teacher wasn't looking, they quietly talked about different things."So, what are your plans for the evening?" Phil asked Tommy.

"Dunno. Figured I'd talk to Chuck and see what time his date thing is. But if you want, we can hang at my house. Are you guys coming?" he asked Lil and Kim.

"Actually, Kim has to help me study. For Foods." Lil blushed when she realized how that sounded. "I meant, we have to find a recipe that we can make in class, and we're going to test run it tonight."

"If it's good, save me some, okay?" Phil requested."If it's good, we'll bring you some over, and then do a rain dance." Lil laughed, then noticed the teacher circling the room with her riding crop. "Um, parley-vous?"

The bell rang, signaling the start of the lunch break. "I'm so hungry! Do you think that I should risk the cafeteria food?" Phil asked, clutching his stomach.

"Let's go to Mickey D's and call it good," Tommy suggested.

"Good idea. I knew this driving thing would be a good thing," Kim said.

"When are you getting your license?" Lil asked her.

"Mom says in about a month. She wants me to get used to the right side of the road."

"Hold on guys. I want to see if Dil wants anything." Tommy went inside the double doors of the gym. Coach Lake saw him and came trotting over. "Pickles, going for track this year?"

"Yes, sir." Track was Tommy's sport, the one thing he didn't need height (or bulk) to do.

"Tryouts are on Wednesday. And tell your friend DeVille that football tryouts are tomorrow."

"I will," he promised, as he caught sight of Dil playing basketball. He waved to Dil and he ran over.

"What brings you here?" Dil panted.

"We were doing a McDonald's run, so do you want anything?"

Dil took a corner of his shirt and used it to wipe his eyes. "Um, sure. Big Mac combo, with Coke. Can I give you the money after you bring the food? Because my wallet's locked up right now."

"That's fine. Hey, me and Phil saw you earlier, running down the hall."

"Yeah, there's these three girls that follow me around, and I usually try to duck them."

"Must be nice," Tommy sighed, not really envious, but curious to what it would be like to have random girls follow you. Since him and Lil had been dating since before they entered high school, he was marked as a taken man through his three years at SHHS.

"Not really." Dil's classmates signaled for him to come back over. "Gotta run, Tommy. Thanks again."

"No prob." Tommy watched as Dil ran back over to his game. He walked out of the gym and rejoined his friends. "Phil, Coach says that football tryouts are tomorrow."

"Cool. You going out this year?"

"For track. You know that I'm at least 20 pounds too light for football."

"You could be the QB," he suggested.

"And get killed. Nope, I'll stick to running."

"I'm going to join the swim team," Kim said. "I need to become more well-rounded."

"No sports for me. I'm doing good being on the yearbook staff." Lil laughed. "This year, we should have our own section."

"What'll we call it?" Kim asked.

"The Super Six?" Tommy suggested.

"That's great, if we were a bunch of girls," Phil groused.

"Hello, girls! Right in front of you!" Lil said, rolling her eyes.

"But I'm not." They argued all the way to the car. Tommy hurriedly unlocked the doors and sat down. "Um, guys? You can get in any day now."

Kim climbed into the back seat. Phil called out, "Shotgun!" and leapt in the passenger seat.

Lil 'accidentally' hit his head as she sat down next to Kim.

00000

As they drove to the McDonald's, Tommy mentally smacked his forehead. "I forgot to find Chuck!"

"Isn't his lunch earlier than ours?" Lil asked.

"Yeah, but it's Chuck. He can eat anytime, anywhere. He must have a hollow leg."

"I know!" Kim exclaimed. "Dad always jokes that he should buy stock in grocery stores."

They pulled into the parking lot. "Okay, we've got to get out," Tommy said. "We always confuse the drive-thru people."

When they walked in, they went to the line with the least amount of people, even though Phil protested that the other line was moving faster.

"If you like the other line better, then why don't you go over there?" Lil asked.

"I don't want to be by myself," he whined.

They laughed as they figured out their orders. When they got up to the front of the line, they could see that they knew the cashier. "Samantha Shane!" Tommy said excitedly. "I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I know! I ran into Angelica the other day, and she said the same thing. Tell you what," and she lowered her voice, "since today's my last day before I go to college, I'll hook you up. Give me your orders and I'll bring everything to you in five minutes."

"Cool!" Phil said. They placed their orders and found a booth in the corner.

"Weren't you surprised that Sam and Chuck didn't end up together?" Lil said. "I mean, he really had it bad for her."

"Yeah, but according to my parents, he always liked Susan, even when we were babies." Kim craned her head around the brightly lit place.

"That concept is just creepy, somehow," Phil mused. "Especially since Susan baby-sat us for a while."

"Aren't you glad that our parents gave up on the whole baby-sitting concept when Chuck turned thirteen?" Tommy questioned.

"Very. We were almost the last kids in our class to still not be left alone." Lil laughed at the memory. "And now the kids I used to baby-sit are doing the same thing! The cycle continues."

Samantha came to our booth, holding a very full tray of food. Tommy stood up and took the tray, noting the admiring looks that her and Lil shot him. He set the tray in the middle of the table and watched as everyone grabbed their food in a frenzy. Tommy sedately took a sandwich and unwrapped it casually.

"So, where are you going to college?" he asked Samantha.

"Stamford."

"Seriously?" Lil gasped. "Man, I'd love to go to a school like that."

"Well, if I could make it in, so could you."

"Based on the grades I get in the core subjects, probably. But my extracurricular activities and electives..." Lil made a so-so gesture.

"I always say that between the four of us," and Tommy gestured to all of his friends, "We would make one straight-A student."

"I hear you. But I wasn't a straight-A student. I just did really well on my SAT's and I was 'well-rounded'," Samantha said, complete with air quotes.

Tommy nodded and happened to glance at his watch. "Guys! We have got to get back. I'm sorry to run out so fast," he said to Samantha.

"It's okay. I'm actually off work, so I'll head home and finish packing. It was good seeing you guys."

"It was good seeing you too!" Everyone hugged her and they went out to the car."How are we running on time?" Phil asked.

Tommy glanced at the clock on the dashboard. "We have all of seven minutes to get back to school, I have to drop off Dil's food, and make it to class."

"We can't get in that much trouble on the first day," Kim reasoned. "I mean, we can always tell the teachers that we got lost on the way to class."

"I hope so." Tommy drove like a maniac (but a careful one) and made it back on campus two minutes before the bell rang. He ran to the gym where Dil was waiting.

"Here you go, man," Tommy said, trying to catch his breath.

"Thanks again."

"It's okay. See you later."

"Don't you want your money?"

Tommy waved it off. "I'll explain after school." He ran off to his next class, Photography.

00000

As Phil sat in his last class, Woodshop, he listened to the teacher with interest as he described graphically how he lost two fingers to a jigsaw. Phil guessed the lesson was supposed to be, "Be Careful or Accidents Can Happen", but he just was sad that he missed seeing that.

After the bell rang, everyone met at Tommy's car. "Who's heading where?" Phil asked.

"I'm going over your house," Kim answered him.

"I'm not doing anything until my date later," Chuck said.

"Well, I was going over Tommy's. We can all hang." Phil punched Chuck lightly. Very lightly. "Besides, the girls will cook for us."

"Dil, what are you up to?" Tommy asked.

"My friend Joe invited me over. I just came to tell you."

"'Kay, bye, then." Everyone watched as Dil ran away.

"Who would've thought that Dil would turn out to be the tallest of all of us?" Phil asked in wonderment. Although Phil was the biggest, Dil had a good three inches on him, but was a year younger.

"Who knows? And the doctor says that he has the potential to reach 6'3" or more. There is no height in our family, either, except for him." Tommy laughed. "It's hard to explain to people that I'm the older brother when they see us side by side."

"Well, if we're ready, I'll follow you," Chuck told Tommy.Everyone piled into the cars, with Phil riding with Chuck and the girls riding with Tommy.

As Chuck started the car, he asked, "So, have you told them yet?"

"Told them… oh. No."

"Why not?"

"Because… I really don't know how they will react. And… I guess I'm scared. That they would disapprove."

"I think that you're blowing this out of proportion," Chuck warned. "But don't worry; I won't say anything to anyone. Although Susan already knows."

"I figured she would."

They rode in silence the rest of the way to Tommy's house. While Chuck parked, Phil remarked, "It seems weird that Spike's not going to come bounding out of the house to greet us."

"I know. It's been two years, and I still miss him." Chuck looked thoughtful for a minute. Then he reached in the backseat and grabbed his messenger bag. "I have something I want to show you and Tommy. You are going to get out of the car, right?"

00000

"…so he said, 'I always wondered where your blushes started,' so of course, I blushed even harder. Then I cleaned the kitchen while he got his things together." Lil stopped and blushed at the memory.

"So, what happened next?" Kim asked. "And don't tell me nothing, because I can read it all over your face."

"Well, after I cleaned the kitchen, I went to wait in the living room. I was going to tell him that I was done, so I went to the foot of the stairs. But I heard him." Lil's face was an interesting shade of eggplant at this point.

Kim repeated blankly, "You heard him?" Then realization sank in and she said, "Oh. Oh! What did you do?"

"I just stood there like an idiot until he came down the steps. And then we went to my house."

"Did you tell him that… you heard him?"

"No. I can't even say the word, let alone… man." Lil put her head in her hands and groaned.

"Don't shoot me for this question, but… what did it sound like?"

"He moaned. A long moan."

"Man. I would totally tell Tim if I heard him doing that."

"Why?"

"Because… I don't know, he would probably tell me if he heard me." 

"What! Kim, don't tell me…"

"I'm practically a grown woman who can't give it up to my boyfriend, who likes to do inappropriate things to me in public places. Without _that_," she emphasized, "I would tear out my hair."

Lil's face had surpassed eggplant and was now decidedly purple. "You must think I'm such a baby."

"No! You know what you're comfortable with. Tell you what. My mom gave this book a while ago. No, it's not like one of those 'What's happening down there' books. It tells you how to set limits with your partner so that both of you are happy. And there's a section in there on _that_. I'll bring it to school tomorrow."

"Thank you," Lil said softly.

"No problem. Let's head downstairs and fix something edible."

They started digging through Lil's refrigerator. As they did so, Lil sneaked a glance at Kim. Kim seemed so confident about her relationship, and herself. Then again, she was always an individualist, and everyone loved her for it."Okay," Kim asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

"I wish I had your confidence," Lil replied honestly.

"I'll let you in on a secret. I'm nowhere as confident as I appear on the outside. I'm always second- guessing myself, but I think that's just being human."

"So how do you keep the doubts from taking over?"

"I tell myself practical statements. Like, when I'm worried about Tim straying while he's away at college, I tell myself that if he wanted to leave, he had plenty of opportunities when I was away, and he was the one who called me as soon as I was back in town."

"That makes sense," Lil mused.

"Now, I hate to run out on you, but I have to get ready for tonight. After this comes out of the oven, that is." Kim chuckled. "We just made an egg-sausage bake. We rock!"

"That we do." They laughed as they did a crazy little dance around the kitchen. After they were done celebrating and cleaning, they got the bake out of the oven. It looked edible, so Lil sliced a tiny piece out of it and cautiously stuck a fork in it.

"It smells good," Kim remarked.

"Well, here goes." Lil put a tiny bit into my mouth and chewed experimentally. "It's… really good! We really did it! My dad is going to be so proud!" Lil grinned at Kim as she took a forkful too.

"Let's go tell the guys!" Kim said excitedly.They ran next door and knocked on the back door. Tommy's dad answered. "Hi, girls. Tommy and the boys are upstairs."

The girls ran up the stairs and knocked on the door before entering. Tommy was stretched out on his bed, tossing a tennis ball up and down. Phil and Chuck were on the other bed. "So, you finish your cooking?" Phil asked lazily.

"Yeah, and it tastes good! Please, hold your applause until the end," Lil quipped."I hate to break up your conclave, but we have to get home so that I can get ready," Kim said to Chuck.He looked at his watch and stood up. "Shoot! I'll talk to you later, guys."

As they left, Lil looked at her brother and her boyfriend. "So, you just going to lay here some more?"

"Sounds good to me," Phil replied.

Shrugging, she laid down next to Tommy. He scooted over and they lay side by side for a while. "Hey," she whispered. 

"What?" he whispered back.

"If we get rid of Phil, we can have the place to ourselves."

"I heard that!" Phil said. "I can't believe that you'd plot against me."

"Well, Phil, if you go home, you can eat the sausage bake."

"See, knowing that you made it, makes me kinda scared to eat it."

"Smooth, Phil." Lil sat up. "Well, if you won't leave here, we'll go next door."

"Why don't we all go?" Phil got up and bounded to the door. 

As soon as she heard him hit the steps, Lil laid back down and said, "See, it works every time. Now, where were we?"

00000

"Have fun!" Kira said to them.

"We will." Chuck walked out to the car with Kim right on his heels. As she fastened her seatbelt, she sighed, "I thought that they would never let us out the door."

"I know. And why do they need pictures every time we go out? You'd think that it was the prom, over and over." He glanced in the rear view mirror. "Could you pass me the tear stuff? It's in the glove box."

She passed him the little bottle and he quickly squirted the solution in his eyes. He blinked, then sighed in relief.

"What, contacts dry up again?" Kim said sympathetically.

"Yeah, and they feel weird when that happens."

"Who knew that my nerd brother would disappear off the face of the earth after he entered high school?" Kim playfully snarked.

"He didn't disappear. He just got a girlfriend that upgraded him." Chuck smiled at her before starting the engine. "Oh, I meant to tell you. I showed Tommy and Phil the picture." Over the summer, Chuck had drawn a series of charcoal portraits of his family and friends. The one he was referring to was of him, Tommy, and Phil, all looking different ways in the distance. Chuck had gotten the playfulness behind Phil's serious expression, and the way Tommy always concentrated on something- with all of his might.

"What did they say?"

"They liked it. Tommy asked me for a copy."

"Gonna give him one?"

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone yet, but I'm giving everyone in the gang one. Including you."

"That's sweet! Man, now I've got to get something meaningful for you, too." They smiled at each other.

The ride to the restaurant didn't take long, and they pulled in right behind Tim. Chuck could see Susan's car already parked. As soon as he cut the engine, Kim jumped out of the car and ran over to Tim. They hugged for a long time. Chuck watched them with a soft smile on his face. _I would have paid good money to see my little sister with Timmy McNulty. Who would have thought?_

After the two parted, Chuck shook hands with Tim and they walked into the restaurant together.

Susan had already gotten the table, and she stood up and hugged Kim, then Chuck. "I thought you guys would never get here! How are you, Tim?"

"I'm fine."

Susan turned to Chuck. "So, I know we wrote about the subject, but what exactly did you do over the summer?"

"Brushed up on my French. Ate expensive chocolates, some with liqueur in them. Got some sketching done."

"Did you talk to your parents about San Fran?"

"Why should I," Chuck sighed. "They think that I want to be an engineer or something to do with math. How can I tell them that I really want to go to the San Francisco Art Academy?"

"The same way I told my parents that I was not going to medical school. They might be sad, angry, upset, or any combination of the above, but it's your decision."

"And I got your back," Kim said, eyes dancing.

The waiter came and took their orders. After he walked away, Chuck said, "You know, this might be easier if I had stood up to them before. But when they say jump, I usually do."

"It's not any easier. Believe me." Tim's parents had wanted him to go to Yale, but he had gone out and gotten a scholarship to UCLA on his own. Even though he was used to doing things his own way, it was hard to face their disapproval. Kim had told Chuck about that over the summer.

"Well, I've already sent in the application. My thing is this, if I make it into the the school, then I'll tell them. Otherwise, I'll go to Sweet Valley University. So, what did you do this summer? Your letters were kinda vague."

"I worked in a day nursery. It was fun, working with children. It makes me glad that I'm going to into pediatric nursing." Susan smiled. "Children are cute little liars, and I love them for it."

"We weren't like that," Kim protested. "We were such obedient, well-behaved, docile children." She held her serious expression for a second, then burst out laughing. Everyone joined her, which startled the waiter as he dropped off their food. Conversation slowed while they enjoyed their meals. Instead, sounds of contentment and sighs were heard as they dove into their meals. After they were done, they sat back in their chairs with satisfaction.

"We should definitely come here over Thanksgiving break," Tim said. "That's the next time I'll be home."

"Same here," Susan agreed.

There was a moment of silence, then Chuck and Kim blurted out together, "I'm going to miss you."

Tim and Susan looked at their respective partners in astonishment. "How do you do that?" Tim asked.Kim shrugged. "Years of living in the same house, I guess."

They settled the check in the usual way, with Tim and Chuck splitting the check. They walked into the cool night. "I'm so glad that it's a nice night for walking. So why don't we leave the cars here and take a stroll?" Susan suggested.As they walked along the tree-lined street, Susan motioned for Chuck to fall back. He did so, and when Tim and Kim were ahead of them and out of earshot, she touched his arm softly. "Did you talk to Phil?"

"Yeah, but it didn't do any good. He's still worrying about what everyone will think."

Susan sighed. "If we know and are okay with it, then why wouldn't everyone else be different?"

"Look, it's Phil we're talking about. He's always marched to a different drummer."

"That's true. Let's change the subject. When are you going to come and visit me at school?"

"You know the answer to that. This Saturday."

"Will you spend the night?"

"Can I?" he grinned.

"Of course. Your parents won't freak, will they?"

"They will, but I'll point out that I'm almost eighteen, it's a three hour drive, and they won't want me driving back in the middle of the night.""Then it's a date then?"

"Yes."

00000

"Did you get your homework done?"

"Yes," Dil said patiently. "Joe helped me with the math. Want to check it?"

"No, that's all right," his mother said. "You just missed Angelica."

"Oh. How's she doing?"

"Fine. She's excited about going away. She was sad to have missed you."

"I'll give her a call." Dil grabbed a plate and filled it with food.

"Didn't you eat over your friend's house?"

"Yeah, but that was what? Two hours ago?" Dil smiled at his mother as he nuked the food in the microwave.

"All right. Tommy's upstairs. Bed by ten."

"Mo-om," Dil whined. "Do I still need a bedtime?"

"You're still growing. Lipshitz says that teenage boys do most of their growing while they're asleep."

Dil knew better than to argue with his mother about Lipshitz, so he said, "Okay," and turned his attention to the now steaming hot food.

"Well, good night, Dil."

"Night, Mom."

After he shoveled the food down, he went over to the phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Uncle Drew. Is Angelica around?"

"Hello, Dil. Hold on, I think she's downstairs."

There was a short pause, then a new voice said, "Hello?"

"Hey Angelica."

"Hey Dil. Did Aunt Didi tell you I stopped by?"

"Hence the phone call," Dil said dryly. "What time are you leaving tomorrow?"

"Around nine."

"Oh. I guess I won't be seeing you until…"

"Thanksgiving."

"That long? You're not coming home any weekends?"

"Not if I can help it. I've never been away from home for any long period of time, not even to sleep-away camp. I want to see exactly how homesick I'll get."

"Well, can we come up and see you?"

"Depends on who we is."

"You know, the usual suspects. And maybe some of my friends." Dil hoped that she would not ask any more questions about that subject. "So, do you already know your roommate?"

"I've spoken to her on the phone. Her name is Troian. She sounds goth, but as long as she does what I tell her to, we'll get along fine." They both laughed. "Well, Dil, I have to run. Believe it or not, I have to finish packing!"

"I understand. Talk to you later."

"Bye."Dil hung up the phone and made sure that the kitchen was clean before he headed upstairs. In their room, Tommy was sitting at the desk, wearing headphones while doing his homework. Dil tapped him on the shoulder softly so as not to startle him.

"Oh, hey Dil. Did you just get back?"

"Nah. I ate dinner, then talked to Angelica on the phone."

"You know, in two years, that'll be me and my friends."

"Don't remind me," Dil groaned. "It's bad enough that I'll be alone at school, but I'll be the only kid left of the Pickles/Finster/DeVille clan."

"You'll get through it. Besides, you're the mack daddy of SHHS."

Dil burst out laughing. "Who says that?"

"Phil did. Actually, he says that you're a playa."

Dil fell on his bed, rolling. "I've never heard that phrase pronounced so correctly."

"Are you trying to say that I'm not down?"The sound of the words and the look on Tommy's face was enough to put tears in Dil's eyes. "Never mind, never mind. I think I'm going to bed now."

"Okay. Night, Dil."

"Night, Tommy."


	2. November

**November**

The hot days of August were a memory by this point. Due to the crazy weather, everyone was pulling out sweaters to wear to school in the mornings and would end up shedding them by the afternoon. The school was gearing up for football finals, so there were posters everywhere, and everyone was feeling school spirit. That was, except for Tommy. He was too worried about his friends and family. Dil was moping around the house for no apparent reason, Chuck and Kim were both depressed that their partners were away, and Phil was being all secretive. The only sane person right now was Lil, who was as bewildered at their friends' behavior as he was.

Tommy picked out a sweater that was a royal blue and matched it with some black jeans. He was admiring himself in the mirror when Dil came in. He flopped on his bed without saying anything."Something wrong, Dil?" Tommy asked. He always asked, and always got the same answer. He mouthed it with Dil.

"Nothing you can help with, but thanks for asking."

"Look, are you sure I can't help? I might not be as smart as Chuck or understanding as Lilly, but I am a good listener."

"I know. I… I don't know what's wrong myself. So how can I ask for advice?"

"Well, when you figure it out, I'm here." Tommy gave his hair one last pat and smiled at himself. "I'm going out with Lilly, so, I'll see you later."

"I'm going over Joe's house. To study."

"Oh, okay. Guess I'll see you when I see you, then." He grabbed his keys and wallet and headed downstairs.

"Hey, Tommy. Could you do your old man a favor? Just hold this part here." His dad handed him a screwdriver while he touched two wires together. The contact made the doorbell ring.

"That's the right one. Thanks."

"Okay Dad. See you later." Tommy walked out the door and cut across the lawn to knock on the DeVilles' house. Phil answered the door.

"Hi Tommy. Lil's still upstairs. You guys coming to the pep rally later?"

"Wouldn't miss it for anything." Lil came down the steps then, wearing a pink sweater and jean skirt.

"See you later, Phil. Got any plans?"

"Yeah, I have to run somewhere, but I'll be back," he said vaguely.

"Okay." Lil and Tommy walked outside. "Did that mean anything to you?" he asked her.

"Not a clue. He runs off every weekend, to who knows where. And he never tells anyone where he goes."

"Did you check the odometer?"

"Can't say that spying on him occurred to me. Anyway, I figure that he'll tell me and us when he gets ready. Oh, nice sweater."

"Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Sure."As they were about to get into the car, something occurred to Tommy. "I forgot to get something from my room. You wanna come up?"

"I guess."

Tommy relocked the car and headed back into his house. "I forgot something upstairs," he explained to his dad, who was still installing the doorbell. "Did Dil leave yet?"

"His friend picked him up a minute ago."

Lil and Tommy ran up the stairs. He ducked into his room and picked up the list he was supposed to take with them. "Okay, I'm ready." They were participating in a scavenger hunt for their junior prom fundraiser. They had to find and take pictures of everything on the list.

"Now, how come we're the only ones of our friends to do this?" Lil wondered. "It's an easy way to show school spirit."

"Who knows? Our friends have been weird almost since school started."

"Yeah. When we go away to college, promise me that we won't mope over each other if we don't go to the same school."

"Who says we won't?"

"Who says we will?" Lil countered. "At this point, we don't even have career goals, let alone college choices."

"I think I know what I want to do," Tommy mused.

The phone rang on Tommy's desk, startling both of them. He waited to see if his dad would pick up, so after four rings, he answered. "Hello?"

"Tommy? Hey, we changed our minds! Is it too late to go on the scavenger hunt with you?"

"Hey Chuck." Tommy covered the receiver. "Now Chuck and Kim want to go on the hunt with us."

"Do you mind?"

"Not really. We can make out under the bleachers at the pep rally." Tommy watched as Lil turned red and uncovered the phone. "That's cool. Do you want to drive or shall I?"

"I can drive. I'll be over in ten, okay?"

"See you then." Tommy hung up the phone. "They'll be here in ten. Any ideas on how to kill time?""Sure!" Lil sat down on his bed. "Let's practice our French verbs."

He sat down next to her. "We can practice our French, all right." Their lips met, and they were actually startled when the doorbell rang.

"Man, just when this was starting to get fun," Tommy said as they separated.

"Well… never mind."

"No, what?"

"Nothing. We'll talk later, kay? Now let's answer the door before our friends get mad and drive off."

"They wouldn't, if only because we have the list." Tommy grinned and ran down the stairs.

00000

Chuck was still in his car, with Kim in the front seat. "Hop in; we got pointless things to find."

"Hey, no fair calling our fundraiser pointless!" Kim slugged Chuck on the arm.

"Rule number one!" Chuck grumbled, rubbing his arm.

"Sorry. I forgot the 'no hitting Chuck while he's behind the wheel' rule." Kim tried to sound apologetic but had a hard time doing so, considering that she was smirking a mile a minute.

"So, what's the first thing on the list?" Lil asked.

"We have to…" Tommy scanned the paragraph quickly. "Either we can take a picture of ourselves standing next to an old couple, or one of us kissing a baby. Who thought these up?"

"A very demented, unimaginative person." Kim thought a moment. "Who knows some old people?"

"My grandparents are way too far away to come just for a picture," Tommy said. "Lil?"

"Do I have grandparents? No. Don't know any other old people, either. What about you guys?"

"Same boat."

"Well, how about a baby? Do we know any?" Tommy asked.

"None of our parents are having any more." Chuck looked thoughtful, then turned sharply. "Hold on."

Minutes later, they were standing at a day nursery. Each of them was holding a baby, and one of the staff members snapped their picture as Kim's baby spat up on her.

"Thanks, Tamela. I'll tell Susan you said hi," Chuck said as they walked back out.

"You got the hook up, Chuck!" Tommy said teasingly.

"Yeah, because I really need a hookup for daycare." Chuck grinned.

"The way you and Susan are going, you might," Kim pointed out.

"What about you and Tim?" Chuck countered.

"Don't forget Tommy and Lil here." Kim turned to them, making them both blush.

"Um. Well, on to the next thing!" Tommy pulled the list from his back pocket. "Let's see… we need to take a picture of a farm animal."

"It's November! No one's going to have their animals outside." Lil protested.

"Well, they didn't say that it had to be a picture of an actual animal…" Chuck thought aloud."That's devious… I love it!" Kim grabbed the list and examined it closely. "We can just find pictures of the things on the list!"

"Where's the fun in that?" Tommy protested.

"Well, if we do it this way, we'll have some time to hang before the pep rally today," Lil reasoned.

"Well, okay, I guess," Tommy said. "Lead on, Kim!"

00000

They finished up around an hour later. As stated before, the person who came up with the list had no imagination, so they had no trouble finding anything. They went to grab a bite before stopping back at their houses to change for the rally. Kim came back to Lil's house instead of changing.She sat on Lil's bed, laughing as Lil sorted through her clothes. "Lil, you do realize that we're probably going to have to perform some stupid and messy stunt at this thing."

"Yeah, I know, but… oh, wait. I know I kept it for way too long, but here's your book back." Lil reached under her mattress, pulled it out, and handed it to Kim.

"Oh, so that's where you keep your diary!" Kim said teasingly. "Was the book… helpful?"

"Yeah it was. You know what?" She sat down next to Kim on the floor and lowered her voice. "I'm going to the clinic next week."

"For what we talked about?" Kim looked stunned and Lil didn't blame her.

"Yeah. I decided that I'd rather be prepared than to not be and get a surprise in nine months."

"Um… can I go with you?"

"I want you to go. How am I going to get this without you?" Lil hugged her. "And… I haven't talked to Tommy about this yet, so I'm going to need moral support."

"Tim and I… I want to over Thanksgiving break," Kim blurted out.

"That's only a week away!" Lil said. "My appointment is only on Wednesday."

"I know," Kim said. She was blushing, a rare sight. "But I didn't decide until a couple of days ago that I wanted to."

"Did you and Tim talk about that?"

"We did before he left. He said that it was my decision and he wouldn't pressure me." Kim looked thoughtful. "But I thought about something. We've been together since I was fourteen. I want him to be my first."

"Oh. I guess I didn't put that much thought into it, except that Tommy and I have been dating since forever and we've had our ups and downs, but there's not another guy that I'd rather be with."

They sat there quietly for a while. Then Lil leapt up and looked at her clock. "We have all of fifteen minutes before Tommy's picking us up!" She grabbed a t-shirt and jeans and went to the bathroom, only to find the door locked. "Who's in there?"

She could hear the shower running, so she turned back around and went into her room. "Sorry Kim. Someone jumped into the bathroom. I'm going to change in here."

Kim looked highly amused. "It's your room." She picked up the book and started thumbing through it while Lil hurriedly changed.

"Okay, I'm ready. Want to walk next door?"

"Sure." They stood up and ran into a towel-clad Phil in the hall. Lil watched as both Kim and Phil turned red.

"Hey, when did you get home?" Lil asked curiously.

"About a half hour ago. Can I get dressed now?" Phil hitched his towel a little more securely."

Oh, sure. We're going next door," Lil said hurriedly and ran down the steps, with Kim right on her heels.

As they walked out of the house, Kim commented, "That is more of your brother than I ever wanted to see."

"I wonder why he was taking a shower, anyway. He had just gotten ready before he had left anyway."

"Guys. Can't understand em."

They laughed as they knocked on Tommy's door.

00000

Wednesday found Lil and Kim waiting nervously at the teen clinic. They were eyeing a girl there who was their age but was heavily pregnant. By the time that the doctor called, they were nervous wrecks.

"So," the doctor said, as they were sitting in the examining room, "What can I help you with today?"

"I want to get birth control," Kim said, her voice shaking a little.

"And what are you here for?" she asked Lil.

"The same thing. And for moral support," Lil replied, sounding more scared than Kim.

"I see. Can you answer a few questions?"

"All right," Kim agreed.

"Okay. What kind of protection are you using now?"

"None. I… does abstinence count?"

"Yes it does. What made you decide to get birth control?"

"Because I want to become… active with my boyfriend and better safe than sorry." Kim knew her face was as red as Lil's, but at least she didn't fall off the table like she thought she was going to.

"I see. Have you discussed this with your parents?"

"If I say no, does that mean that I won't be able to get the pill today?"

"No. It's just that sometimes, talking about this will help you see your options."

"Okay. Well, my mom and I have talked about the subject, but she doesn't know that I'm here today."

"Do you think that she would approve of you being here?"

"She would rather see me here for this than coming to you for a pregnancy test," Kim said honestly.

"I see. Well, before I write you a prescription, you need to have a physical exam to make sure that there's nothing wrong, okay?"

"That's my cue to cut out." Lil stood up. "I'll be in the lobby."

"Don't go far," the doctor warned Lil. "You're next."

00000

"So, what kind did you get?"

Kim pulled a small package out of her purse. "The doctor said that these pills can help acne, too."

"But you don't have a problem with that," Lil said

."And now I'll continue not to. What did you get?"

"The shot." Lil winced at the memory. "It's cool because I don't have to carry anything or think about it for three months."

"So… we're all set. When are you going to talk to Tommy?"

"This weekend."

00000

"Hey, cover for me, I need to run next door," Lil whispered to Tommy. At the moment, all of them were at the Pickles' house, having a reunion of sorts.

"Sure thing. Want me to come with?"

"Nah. I just have to grab something." She walked outside, shivering a little at the air temperature, and went inside her house. She dashed upstairs to grab something out of her room. When she got up to the top of the stairs, she heard a soft sound. Knowing that everyone was next door, she grabbed a baseball bat out of the upstairs closet and tiptoed around until she found the source of the sound- Phil's room. Hefting the bat, she swung the door open and three voices immediately screamed.

"Oh my God!" Her brother was on top of… someone with long blond hair, someone Lil had known all her life. Angelica.

"Um…" Too surprised to articulate, Lil backed out of the room.

"Wait. Phil, go talk to her." Angelica sounded a little sad as she sat up and tucked the sheets around her. "I'm sorry, Lil."

Lil went into her room and waited. In about five minutes, there was a knock on the door."Come in."

Phil walked in, wearing a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. "I'm sorry you had to find out like that."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She tried to keep the hurt out of her voice and failed.

"Well… I wasn't sure how you would react."

"Who else knows? How long has this been going on?"

"Susan knows, and Chuck. And we've been together since July."

"You really could have told me, Phil! Am I that evil where my own twin can't tell me who's he seeing?"

Phil sighed and looked down. "It's not that. It's just that we didn't think that it would be a lasting thing, you know? But it is." He looked at her, ready to be defensive.

"Okay, then." Lil stood up. "But you do know that you're going to have to tell everyone now. I can't keep a secret like that from Tommy."

"Okay. Just, don't be mad, okay?"

"I'm not mad. C'mon, it's Angelica. She's cool, and she's one of the family." Lil involuntarily made a face. "Ew. I think I've just squicked myself out!"

"I always say that our group is incestuous."

"Yeah, we all hooked up with each other. Except for Dil..."

00000

"So, how was your Thanksgiving?"

"It was good. My cousin Angelica and my friend announced that they were seeing each other, which totally came as a surprise to all of us. All of the college kids were back in town, and it was good seeing everyone. How about yours?"

"Same old, same old." Joe stretched and slumped on the couch. "My sister told our parents that she was dropping out of school with only five credits to go. My older brother is trying to move back in. You know, in my family, I'm the normal one."

"Imagine that," Dil teased. At the moment, they were sitting in Joe's basement, watching television. They were discussing the show that was on.

"Look, there's another one of those looks. This scene is full of HoYay! It's so HoYay, it's almost HoNay!"

"Now, why is that?"

"It almost negates itself. My brain almost can't take it!" Joe mock groaned and clutched his stomach.

"Well, then you probably shouldn't look at… that." On the screen, the two guys were close enough to each other that it looked intimate."I see what you mean. Invasion of personal space is definitely a sign."

After the show was over, Joe said, "I better run you home now. My mom wants me to go to the store for her, so… unless you want to tag along…"

"Sure!" Dil replied quickly. Then he added, so as not to appear too eager, "I need to get something, anyway." Then he thought, 'Damn! Now I have to remember to actually buy something.'

"Okay then, let's get going."In the car, Joe turned on one of his cd's. This one was a group that Dil had never heard of. "Who sings this?"

"Oh, it's underground. Dyke seduction music."

Dil listened closely to the lyrics and promptly blushed. "Oh."

As they walked through the store, Dil spotted a comic book stand. "Ooh! I wonder if they have the latest issue of…"He thought of something that Joe had said about his favorite comic characters and blushed again. He snatched his hand back as if he had been burnt.

"What were you going to say?" Joe asked curiously. He grinned at Dil's red face.

"N… nothing. What did you need to pick up?"

"Just some milk and some breakfast for tomorrow."

"Okay." They got the requested items and got out of the store.

"Dylan? Can I ask you something?" Joe said, when he pulled in front of Dil's house.

"Sure."

"You've been kinda distant the last couple of weeks. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry."

"No need to apologize. I just wondered if I made you upset."

"Nah. I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Okay, then. If you need to talk, you can come to me, alright?" Joe smiled, and Dil could see the white flash of teeth in the dim light. "See you tomorrow."

"See you." Dil got out of the car and watched as Joe drove away. He went to his porch and sat down on the stoop, not noticing the coldness of the concrete. He looked up at the night sky, hoping it would hold the answers that he was looking for.

Joe's words replayed in his head. 'You've been kinda distant.'

'I just wondered if I made you upset.'

'No, Joe, you didn't upset me,' Dil answered mentally. 'It's just that I have the biggest crush on you, and you're my best friend, not to mention male, and it's hard to look at you and not tell you how I feel.'

He sighed and went into the house.

00000

"Mom, Dad, I've decided. I'm going to SFAA. They've accepted me and I want to go there instead of becoming an engineer."

A soft knock sounded on Chuck's door. Kim poked her head in. "Are you still rehearsing?"

"Yes. How do you think they'll take it?"

"They'll be fine. I mean, it's not like you have no artistic ability. Half of the pictures on the walls are done by you. So I think it will work out. And I do have your back." Kim smiled and tugged on his arm. "Let's go downstairs."


	3. December/January

December/ January  
  
Tommy:  
  
"So, what did they say when you told them?"  
  
Chuck sighed. Even though we were on the phone, I knew that he was tugging on a lock of hair.  
"Dad was cool. He was surprised, but proud. But Mom said she thought that I was going to MIT. She said that I should at least put in an application there, in case 'this art thing doesn't work out'."  
  
I replied thougtfully, "I thought it would have been the other way around."  
  
He chuckled bitterly. "So did I. Mom's the one who's always telling me to follow my dreams. I guess she means only if it's a dream of being an engineer."  
  
"I'm sure she'll come around," I tried to reassure him.  
  
"I hope so, because I'm not backing down."  
  
"Well, good. You always told me to do what I had to, even when other people might not like it.  
Listen, I have to run. We are supposed to meet everyone at the movies."  
  
"Yeah, okay, I'll talk to you then. Bye."  
  
We hung up and I turned my attention to trying to retrieve something underneath my bed. I had  
almost succeeded in getting it when Dil entered the room. Startled, I swung up too fast and made myself dizzy.  
  
"Whoa, head rush," I said weakly. "Dil, change your mind about the movie?"  
  
"Joe's gonna help me study for my history final. Thanks anyway."  
  
"Are you sure? Joe can come too, if he wants."  
  
"Yeah. I can already tell that my good looks will not get me through this test." Dil grinned, and  
started throwing things into his backpack.  
  
"But you guys are coming to the party later, right? I mean, you can't study all the time. It's winter  
break! Live a little!"  
  
"How could I miss our traditional New Years' party?"  
  
"Okay, just remember- it's at Uncle Drew's at 8."  
  
"Aren't Uncle Drew and Aunt Charlotte out of town?"  
  
"Precisely." I waggled my eyebrows up and down.  
  
"Wonder how Angelica talked her parents into that. Wait, she is 18."  
  
"And I plan to take full advantage of that."  
  
A horn honked outside. "Well, that's for me. I'll tell Joe about the party. See you later, Tommy."  
  
"Bye, Dil."  
  
As he left, I checked myself in the mirror a final time and walked out of my bedroom. I listened for my parents. Not hearing them, I went downstairs and out the door. Walking out into the chilly air made me glance up and hope for snow. Not a lot, but enough to be picture perfect.  
  
As I knocked on Lil's door, I noticed that Angelica's silver car was in front of their house. When she got back in town a couple of weeks ago and told me about her and Phil's relationship, I was  
surprised, to say the least. Those two were known for their barbs and sniping at the other's  
expense. I had once thought that they would kill each other or screw each other's brains out. It was vaguely disturbing how accurate that was.  
  
Mr DeVille answered the door. "Come on in, Tommy. Everyone's in the den."  
  
"Hello," I greeted him and Mrs DeVille as I walked through the house. In the den, Phil and Angelica were sitting on the couch while Lil was on the computer. "Hey you guys. Ready to go?"  
  
"Hey Tommy." Lil turned around from the computer desk. "I'm chatting with Kim. She's waiting on Tim, and then they'll be over here." A soft beep issued from the computer, and Lil turned back to it. "Scratch that. They want us to meet them at their house."  
  
"Okay," I said, picking up the coat that I had recently discarded. "Is everyone riding with me?"  
  
Angelica snorted. "Let's see. Choosing to ride in my new silver Corvette or my cousin's hoopty.  
Decisions, decisions."  
  
"Did you just call my car a hoopty?"  
  
"I call em like I see em, Pickles."  
  
"I just wanted to know when you flashed back to 1990."  
  
Phil, who had been contentedly asleep on Angelica's lap, shook a lazy hand at us. "Now kids, be nice."  
  
"She started it," I defended myself.  
  
Angelica responded by sticking her tongue out at me.  
  
"Yeah, okay. Anyway, I'm driving," Lil announced. "Since I'm always riding somewhere with you, Tommy, or Phil, or Chuck, I forget about the fact that I have a license and a car, too! Come on, guys."  
  
Smirking at my girlfriend's speech, I followed her out the door. Lil and I got into the car that Lil and Phil shared, a green Camry. "So, how long have you been waiting to say that?"  
  
"A while. But there was a good reason I wanted to drive."  
  
"Oh, why is that?"  
  
"Because I wanted to tell you something that might make you run off the road. Last month, do you remember how I told you that I had a doctor's appointment?"  
  
"Yeah." Suddenly, my mouth dried up with fear. "You're not sick, are you?"  
  
"No! No, it's not anything like that. Um, Kim and I went to the clinic."  
  
"I'm still not following you," I said slowly.  
  
"I got birth control," Lil said patiently.  
  
In my resulting shock, I reckoned that Lil was right. If I had been driving, we would be in a ditch right now. "Wow."  
  
"Well, we've been dating for five years. We're both seventeen, and we're responsible, so... I think I'm ready."  
  
"Wow," I repeated.  
  
Lil giggled a little nervously. "Is that all you're going to say?"  
  
"Um. No?"  
  
"I know this is kinda out of the blue, but I've been thinking about this since July." She pulled up in front of the Finster-Watanabe house and killed the engine. "If you need to think about it..."  
  
My first thought was, 'what's there to think about? I'm 17! And a guy!' But I was not going to say that out loud. "Well, if you're sure..."  
  
"I'm sure that I want my first time to be with you," Lil said honestly. She turned to face me on the  
seat. "Tommy, I'm not going to pressure you. I just thought you should know."  
  
"Okay. Um, can we discuss this later? Preferably not around our friends?"  
  
"Deal."

Dil:  
  
Silence.  
  
Silence.  
  
Dil was looking out the window of Joe's car. Joe hadn't been very talkative. He had just told Dil,  
"Hey," when he got into the car, and that's where the conversation had ended. Dil was trying to see if Joe was mad at him, but he wasn't getting enough clues to decide one way or the other.  
  
He spoke up timidly. "Hey, um, thanks again for your help."  
  
"No problem," was the clipped answer.  
  
'Okay,' Dil thought to himself. He looked back the window again and was surprised to see that they were on the highway. He started to ask where they were going, but decided against it. As trees whizzed by, Dil couldn't help but wonder how he had made Joe upset.  
  
Joe took an exit and turned into a small park. "I come here sometimes with my family," he said to Dil's unspoken query.  
  
They got out of the car and walked over to a small area with picnic tables. The park itself was huge, and Dil could hear children screaming in the background.  
  
"Um, I have something to tell you." Joe sat down at one of the picnic tables, carefully not looking at Dil. When he didn't say anything for a while, Dil was certain that Joe was mad at him. But then, he started to talk.  
  
"I... I know I should have told you this a lot earlier, but... I'm just going to say it. Dil, I'm gay."  
  
Dil's heart soared. He was on the verge of spilling everything in his heart out, but instead he settled for grinning widely and saying, "Man, that's... that's great!"  
  
"Why? Because that leaves more girls for you?" Joe teased.  
  
Dil's face fell. Joe, seeing the expression change, asked, "What?"  
  
"Okay, I wasn't going to tell you this right now, but... I like you. A lot." He waited tensely for Joe's reaction.  
  
"Oh," Joe breathed. "But Dil, you aren't..."  
  
"Gay? Why do you think that?"  
  
Joe made a floundering motion with his hands. "Because, you've always got girls fawning over you! You're the most popular guy in your class!"  
  
"The girls follow me. It's not the other way around." Dil stood up and raked a hand through his hair. "Look, if you don't like me, just say so and I can die of embarrassment in peace."  
  
"I didn't say that! It's just that, you're like my best friend! I don't want to wreck our friendship."  
  
"Now see, I see it as 'best friend with benefits'," Dil said, his sunny personality breaking through his sour demeanor. "I'm not asking for you to be like, let's run off and get married tomorrow." Realizing what he had just said, a light flush stained his cheeks. "But I've liked you ever since last year."  
  
"When we first met?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
---------------------------------------------------------Flashback------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Dil was wandering around the building, trying not to look hopelessly lost. Tommy had told him horror stories about what happened to freshmen who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the stories ended with someone's head in the toilet.  
  
"Hey..." Some guy ran past Dil, almost knocking the backpack he was clutching protectively out of his arms.  
  
Feeling abused and exposed, Dil was seriously contemplating just giving up and going home when someone tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Excuse me, I saw you looking around. Is there anything I can help you with?" Dil turned around to look at a guy with the palest blue eyes he had ever seen. Checking him out carefully, Dil noted that the guy had very pronounced cheekbones, curly blonde hair and a nice build. He blushed, realizing that he had been staring for a while.  
  
"Um... yeah. I'm looking for room 312?"  
  
"Okay. What you need to do is go up this hall and take a left. Keep going and you'll see the three hundreds. It'll be on the left side of the corridor."  
  
"Thanks," Dil said, making no move to go. "Are you some kind of helper?"  
  
The guy laughed. "Naw, I just noticed you with the same expression that I wore the whole of last year. My name's Joe Wellton."  
  
"Dil Pickles."  
  
"You must have been very hard on your mother in the womb for that one."  
  
Dil blushed. "It's actually Dillon. But no one calls me that except for teachers."  
  
"It's cool. I'd use it. Anyway, the bell's set to ring in," Joe checked his watch, "Two minutes. Tell  
you what. We can get together after school to discuss the 'Dos and Don'ts of SHHS'. Meet me at the gym after school, okay?"  
  
"Sure!" Dil said, the day suddenly looking a lot brighter.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Joe, too, stood up. "That's a lot of information to take in at one time."  
  
"So, what do you want to do now?"  
  
"You mean, about this situation?"  
  
"I was referring to actual activity, but that will work too."  
  
"I'd be lying if I said that I don't have feelings for you. But..."  
  
"No buts." Dil's hazel eyes were sparkling. "Look, if you don't want to talk about it anymore, that's okay. Meanwhile, Tommy wants you to come to a party my cousin's having tonight. I want you to come."  
  
"Well... okay," Joe relented. "But only because they'll be food there."  
  
"Cool. You know my cousin Angelica, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I've heard of her..."  
  
"She's hell on wheels, but she's nice, at least to us."  
  
"Nice description," Joe said sarcastically.  
  
"And Susan Carmichael and Tim McNulty will be there, too.," Dil added, ignoring Joe's comment.  
  
"So it won't be a big crowd, but my friends and family..."  
  
"Do they know?" Joe asked abruptly.  
  
"Know?" Dil repeated blankly. Then he caught on to what Joe was asking. "No. I haven't told  
anyone. My family thinks of me as the same annoying little brother who happens to be the daddy  
mack of SHHS. Kinda hard to tell them that their image of me is as wrong as it can get. Does  
anyone in your family know?"  
  
"My parents know. They're not happy about it, though. The only reason they haven't kicked me out is because my siblings would kill them."  
  
"Oh," said Dil sympethically. Even though he hadn't told his parents yet, he knew deep down that they would be surprised, but not judgemental. Oh, sure, his mom would go grab a copy of Dr Lipshitz' book 'What To Do if Your Teenage Son is Gay', and his dad would fumble for words for a while, but they would be okay with it.  
  
"Well, I've had enough of nature for one day," Joe said, standing up. "Plus, I think it's going to  
snow."  
  
Dil looked up in the sky and watched the grey, heavy clouds. "I agree. Where are we heading now?"  
  
"To my house. I just didn't want to tell you in my parents' hearing. Denial is the standard they live  
by."  
  
As they got back in the car, an insistent little voice inside Dil's head whispered, 'Now there's hope...'

Chuck:  
  
The party was in full swing. Everyone, with the exception of Dil and Joe, had paired off and was  
dancing. Chuck and Susan were swaying to the slow song with their eyes closed.  
  
"Chuck?" Susan whispered.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Come with me for a second..." Susan led him to Angelica's bedroom, which was fortunately vacant.  
  
Once they got inside the door, Chuck began kissing her frantically.  
  
"You nut! That's not why I brought you here!" she said, lauging as she gently shoved him back.  
  
"It's not?"  
  
"Actually, I have to talk to you." Susan's face sobered. "Let's sit on the bed."  
  
"I'm probably not going to like this, am I?"  
  
"No," Susan said bluntly.  
  
"You're... we're not breaking up, are we?" Chuck whispered, suddenly not able to look her in the eye.  
  
She laughed, a rich chuckle that immeadiately warmed Chuck's heart. "No! How could I satisfy my redhead fixation? But seriously, it's about SMU."  
  
"SMU? What about it?"  
  
"It's not working out. I mean, the classes, my roommate, my whole college life... it sucks. And their nursing program is sub-par. I'm going over stuff that I did in high school biology."  
  
"Are you transferring?"  
  
"Yeah. I'm going to... Purdue."  
  
"Purdue? As in Purdue in the midwest?"  
  
"Yeah, it's in Indiana. They have a stellar nursing program and they even have programs for  
minorities. I know that's it's a lot farther away than SMU, but what's the purpose of going to college if you get a bad education out of it?"  
  
"But... we won't see each other on the weekends."  
  
"I know, and believe me, if there was another school closer to home, I'd jump on it."  
  
Chuck smiled ruefully. "And here I was worrying about how going to SFAA would affect us."  
  
"We'll still be together," Susan stressed. "Just not... as often."  
  
"Okay." Chuck caught one of Susan's hands and held it gently. "You know I'll miss you more than ever."  
  
"You always knew what to say to a girl to make her cry," Susan said, as a crystalline tear fell from her brown eyes. "I'm so lucky to have you."  
  
"So am I."

Phil:  
  
"Spill! Now! I want details!" Lil shrieked.  
  
We were all sitting in Angelica's living room, cuddling our respective partners and talking. Lil was currently trying to get Angelica and I to tell everyone how we started going out. I finally got annoyed with her pestering and said, "Okay! If we tell, everyone has to."  
  
"Deal," my friends and sister chorused.  
  
"Okay, basically during the summer, we realized we liked each other- a lot. End of story."  
  
Loud boos greeted my rendition. Angelica stood up and after winking at me, mock-grumbled, "Can't even tell a story right! Never send a boy in to do a woman's job. Anyway, this is what happened..."  
  
------------------------------------------------------Flashback---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Hey, Phil, whatcha doin'?"  
  
"Watching grass grow. Wanna join me?" I smiled up at Angelica. She was wearing some kind of  
short shorts and a little top. She looked totally hot, and she knew it.  
  
"Sure!" She flopped down on the blanket beside me. "Um, you seen Tommy?"  
  
"He's probably still at work. Hmmm, work. That's where I should be but don't want to be."  
  
"You skipped out?"  
  
"No, just have a day off. You?"  
  
"Being the boss's daughter has its advantages." She grinned her famous 'I love it when I get my  
way' grin, and I felt my stomach flip flop. Mentally asking myself 'what the hell?' I casually flipped over on my stomach and looked across the yard.  
  
"So... ready for college?"  
  
"I've been ready since kindergarten. So tired of this town." For a second, her face fell, then she  
brightened up. "Let's go!"  
  
"Go where?"  
  
"Anywhere! Come on, it'll be an adventure." She stood up and frowned. "Now where have I heard that phrase before? Never mind. Let's take my car!"  
  
We leapt into the seats of her convertible, with the top down, and took off. As we cruised down the highway, I yelled at her over the wind, "Why me!"  
  
"What!" she yelled back.  
  
"Why did you pick me!"  
  
"Because you're dead sexy!"  
  
After she said that, we looked at each other briefly before Angelica focused her attention on the  
road and I went back to reading billboards. After a while, Angelica pulled off at a rest area and we got out to stretch our legs.  
  
I followed her to the vending machines before touching her arm. "Hey Ang... what did you mean by what you said on the highway?"  
  
"Oh... forget it." She was blushing, uncharacteristically.  
  
"No! Do you really think I'm sexy?"  
  
"Well, yeah," she admitted relunctantly.  
  
"I think you're sexy, too."  
  
"Yeah, well, that's a given." She smiled and flipped her long blonde hair. "Ready to hit the road  
again?"  
  
"I'm going to grab a soda. Want one?"  
  
"Sure, thanks. Oh, and could you get one of those soft chocolate chip cookies? Thank you," she  
sang.  
  
I got the requested items and went back to the car. Before we pulled off, a thought popped into my head. "Stop the car!"  
  
She did so immeadiately, shooting me a look of annoyance and fear. "Shit, Phil, you scared me!  
Now what?"  
  
"I... have to see..." I muttered. Her face changed from annoyance to confusion as I leaned over  
towards her. Once she realized what I was about to do, her face relaxed and she smiled slightly as we kissed. My stomach flip flopped again, and when we finally parted, I could see the bemused expression on her face.  
  
"Did you see what you were looking for?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"So, what happened after that?" Lil asked.  
  
"Basically, we knew that if we had that much chemistry in a car, then we'd be perfect for each  
other." Angelica bowed, and then came back to sit next to me.  
  
"Hey," I whispered into her ear, "you left out the most important part."  
  
"I'm not telling them that I fell in love with you that day. That would totally kill my reputation."  
  
I just smiled, knowing that that was true for both of us.

Kim:  
  
After Angelica finished telling her story, I jumped up. "I want to go next!"  
  
Everyone laughed as I ran to the middle of the room and said, "This is the story of two people. One was tall, light, and handsome. The other was short, dark, and beautiful. This is the story of... Kim and Tim."  
  
"Been thinking about this a while, haven't you Kim?" Dil asked dryly, making everyone laugh harder.  
  
"Shut up Dil, you're killing the mood! Anyway, as I was saying... It was a typical spring day. I was fourteen and the world was mine. I had everything I wanted, except for love."  
  
Loud 'awws' greeted this statement. Ignoring my friends, I continued, "However, I did have my eye on this one guy. Um... he's not the one I'm with tonight." I caught the surprised expressions on my friends' faces. "What! And you thought you knew everything about me! So, this guy was trouble, but I couldn't see that. He asked me out one day, and I was so happy, until someone dropped an anonymous note into my locker, saying that anyone who went out with this guy would be in for trouble. Not being stupid, I heeded the note's advice and broke the date. Seeing the guy's reaction told me definitely that I had made the right decision."  
  
"Not trying to rush you or anything, but where does Tim fit into all of this?" Lil asked impatiently.  
  
"Being the nosy butt that I am, I decided to find out who exactly had sent me the note. I ruled out you, Lil, because you would have just told me face to face. That actually ruled out most of you, except for Tim. But I still thought it was someone in our immediate group."  
  
"Let me interrupt here," Tim interjected. "I knew the guy that Kim's talking about personally. He was always bragging about how he 'got' girls, and when Angelica told me about Kim's date, I knew I had to do something."  
  
"So I didn't know that Tim even knew about the date. After all, this was my freshman year and we barely saw each other, let alone spoke," I explained. "So, Angelica let it slip that she had told Tim about it, I put two and two together, and I thought it was so cool that he would try to help like that. So I asked him out."  
  
"And I said yes..." Tim started.  
  
"And we've been going out ever since."  
  
Everyone clapped at the end of our story. Tim and I laughed, and shared a private glance, with  
knowledge of what was to come.

Chuck:  
  
"So... I guess we're up next," Chuck sighed. "Can't we just say that we're together now and leave it at that?"  
  
"C'mon Chuck. You wouldn't even tell me what happened, and I'm your sister!" Kim tried to look exasperated, but ended up giggling.  
  
"Well, we do owe them, so..." Susan looked over at Chuck with her patented puppy dog eyes.  
  
"How do I get myself roped into this?" he mock-grumbled. "Okay. Remember how happy I was to be skipped ahead in middle school, because it meant that I would only be a year behind Samantha Shane in high school?"  
  
"Yeah," Tommy said.  
  
"Well, by the time I was a freshman, she, and all of our older friends, were sophomores, and popular ones at that. Two weeks after the school year started, Sam told me that she didn't want to go out with a 'freshie'. She said it would ruin her reputation."  
  
"Harsh, man," Phil sympathized.  
  
"So here I was, the biggest nerd of SHHS. I felt like I was always one step ahead of a swirly, just because of the way I looked. Anyway, someone took notice of that..."  
  
-----------------------------------------------------Flashback----------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Chuckie sat dejectedly in the cafeteria. He never wanted to eat in there, because he usually ended up alone at a table for seven, and nothing screamed 'loser' faster than eating alone.  
  
"Hey! Got room for one?" He looked up to see Susie Carmichael standing next to him.  
  
"Sure, sit down wherever you like," Chuckie replied sadly. "It's not like anyone else would sit here anyway."  
  
"What? They just don't know you yet. In another month, I won't be able to get to this table, because it'll be full up with people." Susie patted his arm reasurringly. "And... I brought cookies!"  
  
"Did you make them?" Chuckie asked, perking up.  
  
"Sure did. And who better than to share them with than one of my best friends?"  
  
"Better save some for Angelica," Chuckie warned.  
  
Susie chuckled. "I already dropped off a bag at her locker. Never stand between Angelica and  
chocolate chip cookies."  
  
"Better believe it," Chuckie said, laughing.  
  
Before long, Susie's prediction came true. Chuckie made friends with his classmates, especially  
the ones in his art class. He wasn't exactly popular, but he wasn't facing daily swirlys either. But  
Susie still remained one of his closest friends and supporters.  
  
"Guess what?" she said one day, bouncing up to him in the cafeteria. "The dance is on!"  
  
"Which dance again?"  
  
"The Fall Fling! It's the first dance and the coolest. Hope I can get a date in three days, because  
faculty is moving fast."  
  
Chuckie felt a sharp twist of jealousy in his stomach just thinking about anyone else taking Susie to the dance.  
  
"So, will you go?"  
  
"To the dance?" Chuckie snorted. "Let's see. I can't dance, have no hope of asking anyone, and no one will ask me. I'd say that's enough reasons to stay home."  
  
"Well, think about it, kay?" Susie touched his arm and got up and walked out of the cafeteria.  
  
That night, a wild plan grew inside of Chuckie's head. 'It sounds like something Tommy would try to pull off. I'll do it!'  
  
He dialled the familiar number and anxiously waited. "Hello?"  
  
"Susie?"  
  
"Chuckie? What's up?"  
  
"Nothing. Um, wanta go to the dance with me?"  
  
"What!"  
  
Chuckie blushed furiously. "If you don't want to go with me..."  
  
"Oh, it's not that," Susie said rapidly. "I just thought that you would never ask! Pick me up at seven, okay?" She laughed and hung up.  
  
'Okay, that was easy!' Chuckie grinned as he hung up.  
  
The dance went great. No, Chuckie didn't develop the ability to dance overnight, so he stuck to the slow songs. But everyone was surprised to see him, and they made him feel welcome. He felt as if he was walking on air as he and Susie went home.  
  
As he walked her up to the door, they both started to talk. "So..." they said together and then  
laughed.  
  
"No, go ahead," they said together and laughed harder.  
  
Susie waved her hand. "No really. What did you want to say?"  
  
Instead of saying anything, he leaned forward and kissed her. She was surprised for a second  
before she responded. "Okay," she said breathlessly when they parted. "Was not expecting that,  
but good."  
  
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he said honestly.  
  
"Well, nice to see you acted on that. I think," Susie said with a twinkle in her eyes, "that you are no longer Chuckie. Or Charlie. What was Angelica thinking with that nickname?"  
  
"Beats me."  
  
"So, I dub thee Chuck."  
  
"I like that. You do realize that if I'm Chuck, you should go by your real name."  
  
"Susan? It seems so weird. And plain."  
  
"I like it."  
  
"Sold."  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"So that's why you switched to Chuck overnight," Tommy said.  
  
"Well, yeah."  
  
"And I switched to Kim right after that." Kim looked smug.  
  
"I have a question for you, Tommy. Why didn't you switch with everyone else?" Joe asked.  
  
"I tried my freshman year, but I felt like I was constantly in trouble. 'Thomas! Thomas!' I was always looking over my shoulder. Besides, Tommy's a cool name. And some adults are still called that. How seriously would you take an adult called Chuckie or Susie? No offense."  
  
"None taken," Chuck and Susan answered together.  
  
"They're still doing it! It never stops!" Angelica sighed dramatically.

Tommy:  
  
I glanced at the clock. "Guys! It's almost 11:30. Do we want to turn on the television to watch the ball drop?"  
  
"We can at 11:45. Who wants to watch a bunch of canned performances by bands we don't know?" Angelica answered practically.  
  
"Okay, bro, you're up," Dil said. "Although everyone knows how you and Lil started going out."  
  
"Joe doesn't. So Joe, this is for you!" My friends snickered as I stood up. "Basically, it was the  
summer before 7th grade. We were twelve. All of my friends basically had girlfriends, and I was like, I didn't see the appeal of girls yet. But Lilly was patient."  
  
"Yeah, real patient," Lil interjected, rolling her eyes. "I hounded Tommy that whole summer. It's a wonder that he still speaks to me."  
  
"Anyway, one day, I went over to the DeVilles to see Phil, and for some reason, he wasn't there. Lil was, and we hung out. I was like, why does everyone want to pair off? And she gallantly offered to go out with me to keep the females away. I was all like, 'score!' When we entered 7th grade, all of the sudden I noticed that Lilly was a girl! And I never looked back."  
  
"Well, that was straight forward," Tim said.  
  
"I'm a straight forward kind of guy," I said modestly.  
  
"It's a quarter til'," Angelica said. She hit the remote and the television was filled with people,  
screaming and watching the ball spin in place in Times Square.  
  
"I kinda wish we were there," Lil said wistfully.  
  
"Maybe next year." I smiled at a couple getting married on the platform.

Dil:  
  
As he looked at his friends and family, Dil smiled, and then thought of something. "Quick! What's everyone's New Year's resolutions?"  
  
"To be a eviller person. Phil here's making me soft." Angelica smiled wickedly.  
  
"To gain ten pounds. That way, if I break it, I'll be happy." Kim said, grinning.  
  
"To read more. Cereal boxes count, right?" Phil cracked.  
  
"To not kill anyone." Tim said succinctly.  
  
"I want to graduate." Chuck said.  
  
"Like you're in any danger of not doing that. Anyway, mine is to do something new." Susan looked hopeful.  
  
"I want to become the man my daddy was," Joe said. "Or not."  
  
"I think that I want to do something new too." Lil looked at Tommy. No one else noticed but Dil.  
  
"Know what? So do I!" Tommy laughed as he took Lil's hand and dragged her out of the room.  
  
"Look at the screen!" Angelica pointed to the countdown.  
  
Everyone started shouting out the numbers. "5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Happy New Year!"  
  
The various couples started kissing. Joe turned to Dil. "So, what's your resolution?"  
  
"Come with me."  
  
The two of them went outside into the crisp night. A light snow had started falling and the night was picture perfect.  
  
"Really want to know what my resolution was?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Dil leaned forward and kissed Joe. He thought briefly 'Oh, this is totally worth it. And yes, I'm gay.'  
  
They stood there for a while, chastely kissing. When they finally parted, Joe said, "So, that was  
your resolution? To kiss me?"  
  
"Pretty much."  
  
"Was it worth it?"  
  
"Oh yeah, but... I think I need more practice. You know, just so I can get it right."  
  
"Sounds good to me."

Tommy:  
  
"Well, drive safely!" Angelica waved to Lil and I as we walked to the car.  
  
"See you tomorrow!" I got in the passenger seat and buckled the seat belt. As Lil turned the engine, I mused, "I wonder what everyone else is doing."  
  
"Phil is staying over Angelica's, obviously."  
  
Both of us involuntarily made faces. "New subject. Um, I don't know what Kim, Tim, Chuck and Susan are doing. Joe's dropping Dil off at home. So, that leaves us." I smiled at the thought.  
  
"Why don't we go to my house? My parents are at some party that won't be over until way early in the morning," Lil suggested.  
  
"Okay."

Lil:  
  
I pulled in front of my house, noting the absence of cars. "See! No one here. Come on."  
  
I opened the door and we went to the living room. We sat there for a moment before I said, "Okay. Come upstairs."  
  
"To your bedroom?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Are.. are you suggesting what I think you are?"  
  
"Yeah. I mean, I thought you wanted to, based on what you said earlier."  
  
"I do!"  
  
"Could you sound any less enthusiatic?" I teased him.  
  
"Aw, do we have to?" Tommy mock whined.  
  
Hesitantly, we moved up the stairs. Although we had been in my room plenty of times, we had never been in there at night with no one else in the house. We perched side-by-side on the bed.  
  
"Um... is it me, or is this really umcomfortable?" I finally said.  
  
"Yeah, this is. I guess I want to do it, but I also don't want to feel like we have to, you know?"  
Tommy looked thoughful. "I mean, we've got plenty of time. And... I kinda want to wait. Until  
marriage."  
  
"Really?" I asked, surprised. "You never told me that."  
  
"I've never really thought about it. But I feel like I could be married to you. So if we wait, it will be better. Did that make any sense?"  
  
"Yeah it does. If you want to wait, that's okay. I mean..." I smiled softly. "Wow. You want to marry me?"  
  
"Yeah. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday."  
  
"Cool. Well, wanna make out instead?"  
  
"All right!"

Kim:  
  
"So don't want to go to school," I sang in the shower. "High school... is lame!"  
  
"Kim, get a move on!" my mother called through the bathroom door.  
  
"Okay!" I yelled. I rinsed off and jumped out. Throwing on my bathrobe, I ran to my room and got dressed quickly, fixing my hair in two braids that were threaded through with wired ribbons. The effect made the braids stick out, kinda like Pippi Longstocking.  
  
"I'm ready," I announced, plopping down at the kitchen table. My dad was already at the table,  
reading the paper.  
  
"Good morning, Kimi. Sleep well?"  
  
I nodded. My dad was the only one still allowed to call me by my old nickname. "Where's Chuck?"  
  
"Still getting dressed, I suppose. Anything special after school?"  
  
"Thanks for reminding me. I have a meet today. Coach Griffin said that I might be the anchor in the 500 relay."  
  
"What time does it start?"  
  
"At 5. We have practice first."  
  
"Your mom and I will be there."  
  
"Thank you," I said sincerely. Chuck came running in, slinging his messenger bag on his shoulder.  
  
"We have to run. Hi, Dad."  
  
"Morning. Why the rush?"  
  
"It's almost seven, and I'm supposed to drop off a letter on the way on to school."  
  
"Okay. Have a good day."  
  
"Bye," I said, running out to the car. Chuck was right on my heels.  
  
"Okay, what's the hurry?" I said. "I'm sure that you can mail that after school."  
  
"It's important. Can you be late for first period?"  
  
"Sure. Are we stopping by the post office?"  
  
"Yeah." Chuck drove through the streets. As he parked, he said, "You need to get out?"  
  
"Nah." I sat in the car and mentally twiddled my thumbs while I waited. As I was waiting, Chuck's cell phone rang. I saw that the phone call was from SHHS. I answered cautiously.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Kim? This is Lil. Where are you?"  
  
"At the post office. What's up?"  
  
"You called and said that you needed to talk to me, but I didn't get your message until late. What did you need?"  
  
"Um. Are you kinda alone?"  
  
"I'm in the phone booth. Why?"  
  
"I meant to tell you earlier, but... Tim and I, we..."  
  
"You did the dirty- dirty!" Lil gasped.  
  
"I've never heard that phrase used so correctly." I quipped. "Yeah, we did. I wanted to talk to you... you told Tommy, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I did, but we decided to wait. Um, was it what you thought it would be?"  
  
"It was so fun! I know that's an odd phrase to use, but it was. We kept laughing the whole time. So why did you decide to wait?"  
  
"Tommy wants to wait until marriage. I didn't know that. We talked about the limits we wanted to set. And... I told him that I heard him."  
  
"You did?"  
  
"I actually didn't mean to, but it just came out. And he's not upset or anything. He said that he's  
glad that I told him. That had to be the most embarassing conversation that I ever had."  
  
"Are you blushing?" I teased.  
  
Even over the phone, I could hear her deep sigh. "Yes. I'm sure that I'm purple by now."  
  
I saw Chuck emerge from the post office. "Okay, Chuck's coming out. Talk to you at school."  
  
I hung up the phone as Chuck got in the car. "Who was that?"  
  
"Lil. She was wondering where we are."  
  
"Okay."


	4. February

February  
  
Tommy:  
  
Love was in the air, at least at SHHS. The whole school was decorated for Valentine's Day, with  
  
streamers, balloons, and posters announcing the Valentine's Day Dance. I had a big surprise  
  
planned for Lil, and the whole gang was looking forward to the actual day, because it was falling on  
  
a Saturday.  
  
"So, you're going to..." I asked Chuck a week before everything happened.  
  
"I'm sending Susan a candygram. They have this big old box of chocolate, which she'll like... and  
  
some other stuff. She's going to be surprised. What about you?"  
  
"I'm giving Lil a balloon bouquet, and some other stuff. I'm going to give it to her at the V day  
  
dance."  
  
"What's the other stuff?"  
  
"You'll have to see at the dance, my friend." I patted Chuck and shouted a good-bye before running  
  
to my next class. In French, all of my friends were waiting outside the door, along with some of our  
  
other classmates.  
  
"Um, isn't the point to actually enter the classroom?" I quipped.  
  
"Look inside the window, but be discreet about it," Lil said.  
  
I peeked and saw the teacher, Mrs Pieff, on her cell phone. She appeared to be in a heated  
  
conversation. Every so often, she hit the riding crop across her leg. Every time she did so, I winced.  
  
"Are we eventually going to go in?" I asked after backing away from the door.  
  
"We were actually inside the room and she came in and kicked us out!" Kim laughed and then said,  
  
"Does this mean that we can cut out?"  
  
"Why don't we try it and see?" Phil suggested.  
  
We started walking down the hall. "So, where are we heading?" I asked.  
  
"Why don't we just go and sit in the car? We can listen to the radio." Lil started for the student  
  
parking lot.  
  
"Doesn't security patrol the lot?" Kim questioned.  
  
"Only the teachers' lot. Besides, it's my car. What can they do?" We stepped out into the chilly air.  
  
Although it hadn't snowed since New Year's Day, it was still very cold outside.  
  
"We're going to turn on the heat, right?" Lil said, rubbing her hands together.  
  
"Of course. Where's your coat?" I asked her.  
  
"In my locker. You know, no wearing coats to class."  
  
I shrugged out of my letterman jacket that I had received for track the previous year and wrapped it  
  
around her shoulders. "Better?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks."  
  
As I unlocked the doors of my car, I saw Chuck approach his own car. "Hey," I yelled, "where are  
  
you headed?"  
  
"To get some coffee. My Calc teacher gave us a chance to do some independent study and my  
  
brain needs caffeine to learn. Wanna come?"  
  
"Sure." We all piled into Chuck's car.  
  
"So, why are you guys out of class?" he asked us.  
  
"Mrs Pieff's having a breakdown that involves self-flagellation." Lil explained.  
  
"What?" Phil and I said together.  
  
"The riding crop thing."  
  
"Oh."  
  
We pulled up into the coffee bar, where a few people were sitting around, drinking hot beverages.  
  
The majority of the place was empty. "Okay. I know what I'm getting Angelica for Valentine's Day,"  
  
Phil said unexpectedly while we were in line.  
  
"What?" both Lil and Kim asked together.  
  
"There's this company, Graham's Crackers, that sends out big gift baskets. They have a cookie  
  
basket that you can put all kinds of stuff in. I know Angie likes chocolate chip cookies, so I picked  
  
out this one that's called Choco-crazy."  
  
"Isn't that romantic?" Lil teased her brother. I watched in amusement as he turned a bright red.  
  
We ordered and sat down in a booth. "So, are any of you planning to go to the Valentine's dance?" I  
  
asked.  
  
"No," Chuck, Kim, and Phil said simutaneously.  
  
"I mean, what's the point?" Chuck added. "It's stupid to go to one of the couple events of SHHS  
  
stag."  
  
"And Angie already said that she wasn't coming back home until spring break, and that's only to  
  
pack for Cancun." Phil mused.  
  
"Wait a minute? Angelica's going to Cancun for spring break? How'd she pull that off?" I wondered.  
  
"Her parents said if she stayed on the dean's list, that she could go where she wanted for spring  
  
break. I'm just jealous that her spring break's two weeks earlier than ours."  
  
"Speaking of spring break, shouldn't we be planning for ours? I mean, this is the last year that we'll  
  
all be able to go to the same place at the same time for a while." Kim looked thoughtfully at us.  
  
"And we should do something memorable."  
  
"When is our spring break, again?" Phil asked.  
  
"First week of April."  
  
"Oh, it'll be memorable, all right," I said as a plan began to form in my head.

Dil:  
  
"So..."  
  
"So..."  
  
Dil and Joe looked at each other, then burst out laughing. At the moment, they were at Joe's house,  
  
supposedly studying. Instead, they were watching a movie and snuggling on the couch.  
  
"You go ahead," Joe said finally after dropping a light kiss on Dil's forehead.  
  
"It's nothing really. It's just that, well, I'm telling my parents tonight."  
  
"You're coming out tonight! And you're this calm? Man, before I told my parents, I was throwing up  
  
for days."  
  
"Well, I'm pretty sure I know how they'll react. Besides, we have been dating for almost two months.  
  
It's not fair to you to have my mom say every time you call, 'So, is Joe seeing anyone? You and him  
  
should double date sometime.' I wanna tell her to get a clue, but it's not her fault."  
  
"Well, I did have something I wanted to ask you. Did you want to go to the Valentine's Day dance  
  
with me?"  
  
"Sure. You do realize though, that this will be the first dance I've actually attended."  
  
"How did you always get out of them?"  
  
"Most of the time my friends and I all skipped the dances, but once they started getting serious, I  
  
would just stay home and make up some excuse about not liking organized school events."  
  
"Well, I'm about to change your reputation in a big way, aren't I?"  
  
Dil turned around and kissed Joe before he sat up. "You've already done that. Now, can we at least  
  
look at the homework I have? I can do it later, but if I'm going to lie to my mom, I need to make it  
  
sound believable."  
  
Dinner that night at the Pickles' was a quiet affair. Dil was waiting until after dinner to tell his  
  
parents, and Tommy was unusually quiet. Right after dinner, before anyone could get up from the  
  
table, Dil said, "Mom, Dad? Could I talk to you guys?"  
  
"Sure, you can talk to us anytime, Dil," his dad said. "What's up?"  
  
"Um, do you want me to go?" Tommy asked, starting to stand.  
  
"No, you need to hear this too," Dil said. "I really don't know how to do this except to say it. You  
  
know how you're always asking me why I never go out with Meagan, or Lori, or Tara, even though  
  
they call here all the time? It's because I like someone else. And um, they like me back. We've  
  
been going out for almost two months now."  
  
Tommy sat there with a growing expression of understanding on his face. "It's Joe, isn't it." It was  
  
not a question.  
  
Dil and his parents turned to face Tommy. The understanding on his face turned to denial. "No," he  
  
mumbled. "There's no way my brother's gay." He pushed his chair from the table and ran out of the  
  
kitchen.  
  
"Is this true, Dil?" his mother asked softly.  
  
"Yeah, it is," he replied. "I tried denying it, but I've known for a while."  
  
"Are you sure?" his dad asked.  
  
"Yeah, I am."  
  
"Well, you know this doesn't change anything. We still love you." His mother got up and hugged  
  
him. His father stood up too, and Dil found himself in the middle of a three-way hug.  
  
"Um, if you'll excuse me, I wanna go talk to Tommy," Dil said. He extracted himself from his  
  
parents and started walking up the stairs, smiling slightly as he heard his mother say "Lipshitz."  
  
He walked into the bedroom he and Tommy shared. Tommy was lying on his bed, hands behind his  
  
head.  
  
"Um, did you want to be alone?" Dil asked awkwardly.  
  
"Yes," was the clipped answer.  
  
"Okay," Dil muttered under his breath, as he exited the room and headed for his mom's office. He  
  
went to her computer and logged on to the Internet. He went to the chat room that he and his  
  
friends used, The Gang of SHHS 1002. As usual, Kim and Lil were in there, talking about what they  
  
were getting their boyfriends for Valentine's Day. He was tempted to join in, but decided to just send  
  
Joe an e-mail.  
  
**To**: Joecool526swiftnet.com  
  
**From:** Dillpickles1222swiftnet.com  
  
**Re**: the big speech  
  
Well, Joe, I told them. My parents were cool, but Tommy is freezing me out. He'll come around,  
  
though. Looking forward to the dance. Your'e not going to make me wear a corsage, are you?  
  
Dil  
  
It took a few minutes to get a response.  
  
**To**: Dillpickles1222swiftnet.com  
  
**From**: Joecool526swiftnet.com  
  
**Re**: Yay! Boo!  
  
Was glad to hear that your parents were cool. Sorry to hear that Tommy wasn't. Anyway, if you're  
  
still online, we can chat in my family room, All's Wellton. My name's Joecoolboxer.  
  
-Joe  
  
Dil immeadiately went over to the chat room.  
  
**Joecoolboxer:** Hey, you made it. Sure you're ok?  
  
**Dillpickles**: Fine. Just a little freaked. Never expected Tommy to react badly.  
  
**Joecoolboxer**: How bad is it?  
  
**Dillpickles**: Right now he's giving me the freeze out. Tommy can hold a grudge for years, so I'm a  
  
little worried that he still won't be talking to me before he leaves for college.  
  
**Joecoolboxer**: So, still wanna go to the dance?  
  
**Dillpickles**: Of course. Can't ditch me.  
  
**Joecoolboxer**: Coolness. Gotta run- still have homework.  
  
**Dillpickles:** I lov delete  
  
**Dillpickles**: Kay. See you tomorrow.  
  
Dil got off the computer and wandered back into his bedroom. Tommy was still on the bed, but now  
  
he appeared to be asleep intead of just sulking. Dil sighed as he changed into a pair of sweatpants  
  
and climbed into bed.

Chuck:  
  
"Chuck! Can we talk to you for a second?"  
  
Chuck glanced up from his homework, surprised. It was already 11pm, and he was supposed to be  
  
asleep. "Um, sure. Come in."  
  
His door opened and his parents entered his room. "We're sorry to disturb you so late. But we were  
  
discussing something and we wanted to let you know what we talked about." His father came and  
  
sat on his bed.  
  
"Basically, we talked about your going to SFAA," his mom began. "And I decided that I was being  
  
too hard on you. I realize that art is a passion for you, and since you have the opportunity to hone  
  
that skill, you will be successful."  
  
"Wow, um, I don't know what to say," Chuck said, then went over to both of them and hugged them  
  
tightly. "Thanks. I'm glad that I have your approval."  
  
"You always do, son," his father said.  
  
After they left his room, Chuck started on another drawing. This one was a family portrait. For the  
  
first time in months, the people in the picture were smiling.

Kim:  
  
As we pulled up to the school, I could see Tommy's car ahead of us. We usually all walked into the  
  
school together, so I was surprised to see Tommy dash into the school without a backward glance.  
  
Chuck and I walked over to Phil, Lil, and Dil. "Anyone know what's up with Tommy?" I asked.  
  
"He was quiet all morning," Lil said. "But no, I don't know why."  
  
"I do," spoke up Dil. He sighed heavily, as if the weight of the world was all on his shoulders. "I  
  
didn't want to have to tell you guys like this, but... I came out to my parents last night."  
  
For a second, you could hear a pin drop. Then four people shouted, "What!"  
  
"Um, okay," I said, looking at Dil closely. He was blushing, uncharacteristically. "Do you want to  
  
give us some more details?"  
  
"There's really not much to tell. I'm seeing Joe."  
  
"Joe? As in, dude we all know Joe?" Chuck looked shocked.  
  
"The one and the same," Dil replied.  
  
"Oh, okay." Lil glanced at her watch. "Is it me or is the bell late?"  
  
"Is that all you're going to say?" Dil asked.  
  
"Hey, I'm cool. If your'e happy, and I don't have to beat up Joe, then it's all good." Phil joked.  
  
"Same here," I said. "Your'e our friend, Dil. We support you."  
  
"Tommy's my brother, and look how he reacted," Dil pointed out.  
  
"He'll come around," Lil said confidently.  
  
"We'll make sure of that," Chuck said. As Dil opened his mouth to say more, the bell finally rang.  
  
"We can talk more after school, okay?" Chuck ran ahead of us.  
  
As Dil moved off to go to his homeroom, I said, "That was not excactly what I was expecting Dil to  
  
tell us. But... he seems more comfortable with himself."  
  
"True." Lil put on her 'thoughtful' face. She threw her books in her locker. "Now, we just have to talk  
  
to Tommy and get him to come around."

Phil:  
  
As we entered homeroom, Tommy was already sitting there, staring out of the window. I took a seat  
  
in front of him. "Hey, Tommy!" I said to get his attention.  
  
He looked at me, clearly startled. "Oh, hey Phil."  
  
"Feel like talking?" I asked him bluntly.  
  
"About Dil? What's there to say?" He threw his hands up in a gesture of futility. "It's not like he'll  
  
listen to me, anyway."  
  
"What do you want him to listen to you about?"  
  
Tommy looked me dead in the eyes, and I could see the storms brewing in his normally placid  
  
eyes. "It's just that, Dil's not even old enough to drive a car yet. He's my little brother. And I don't  
  
want to see him make a mistake so early."  
  
"Do you think homosexuality is wrong?" I asked.  
  
He started a little. "Not really. Guess I never really thought about it. But that's not the point! The  
  
point is, this guy's supposed to be Dil's best friend. He's our age. And all of the sudden, Dil's gay  
  
and in love with him!"  
  
"Dil loves this guy?" 'Man,' I was thinking, 'Dil moves fast.'  
  
"Well, he hasn't said it in so many words, at least to me, but it has to be serious for him to tell  
  
Mom and Dad."  
  
"Okay, I can buy that. Tommy, look. Dil might be young, but he has a good head on his shoulders.  
  
And he's only a year younger than Joe. It's not like they're joining NAMBLA."  
  
"Joining what?"  
  
"NAMBLA- the National Assciation of Man-Boy Love of America."  
  
Tommy made a face. "And you know about this how?"  
  
"Well, I was online, and...." I stopped and blushed. "That's not the point! The point is that Dil is your  
  
only brother, and he needs your support, now more than ever."  
  
Tommy looked at me levelly. "Well, he's going to have to wait a while for that."

Lil:  
  
The day of the dance arrived. Kim was over my house, helping me get ready. "And you're sure that  
  
you're not going?" I asked her again. "What if... my dress rips in the back?"  
  
"That's why I'm putting safety pins in your clutch," Kim replied patiently. "And no, I'm going to stay  
  
with your brother and mine for our 'My Life Sucks Because my Partner's Away at College' party.  
  
Movies, popcorn, long sobbing calls to our various loves- it's my dream come true."  
  
"Thanks again for coming over." I told her, as I pinned my hair into place. "Are you driving to your  
  
house?"  
  
"Nope," Kim replied cheerfully. "Chuck dropped me off and I'm riding home with Phil."  
  
I stood up and slipped into my dress. Fitting with the Valentines' theme, it was red and pink, and  
  
had little hearts on the trim. I secretly thought that it looked like a walking Valentine, but since  
  
Tommy had bought the matching cummerbund, I couldn't take it back. As I was looking in the mirror  
  
critically, I wondered aloud, "I wonder why you and Phil never got together."  
  
Kim made an exaggerated face. "Ew, Lil, if you're like my sister, then he's my brother. And before  
  
you ask, Tommy's like my brother-in-law. No offense to either one."  
  
"None taken." I stepped into my shoes and admired the two inches that they gave me. "Okay. I  
  
think I'm ready. Tommy's probably downstairs, about to kill me."  
  
Kim and I walked down the stairs together. The guys were in the den, as usual. Phil was playing  
  
some video game and Tommy was cheering him on. "Um, Tommy?"  
  
Tommy swung around. "Wow Lilly, you really clean up nice."  
  
"Good to know." I smirked. "Well, ready to roll?"  
  
"Okay. Bye Kim, bye Phil." Tommy waved as we walked out the door.  
  
"Bye, you crazy kids!" Phil called out after us.  
  
We laughed as we got into the car.  
  
At the dance, the people were already on the dance floor, and a fast song was playing. Tommy and  
  
I took to the floor. We can both dance, because we grew up with parents who liked taking their  
  
children to dances, so we learned early.  
  
We stayed on the floor for about five songs before Tommy stopped and fanned himself. "Why don't  
  
we get some punch, Lilly?"  
  
"Sure." We moved to the refreshments table and drank thirstily. After that, we greeted some of our  
  
classmates before Tommy tugged my hand.  
  
"Can we go outside for a sec?"  
  
I looked into Tommy's dancing eyes and said, "Okay." We went into the parking lot. I shivered as a  
  
cold wind swept across the back of my neck. "Whatever this is, can it be kinda fast? I'm freezing!" I  
  
smiled to take the sting out of the words.  
  
Tommy smiled nervously. "Okay, here goes." He pulled a small jewelery box out of his jacket  
  
pocket. He opened the box to reveal a ring. For a split second, I thought he was going to propose,  
  
but then he said in an obviously rehearsed speech, "This is a promise ring, and I'd be honored if  
  
you'll wear it."  
  
"Of course I'll wear it!" I slipped it onto my right hand and then hugged Tommy hard. "Thank you!"  
  
"You're welcome." As we stood there, a man came walking up to us.  
  
"Are you Thomas Pickles?" the man asked Tommy.  
  
I saw Tommy wince slightly before he nodded his head.  
  
"Sign here, please," The man pulled out a clipboard, which Tommy signed. The man handed  
  
Tommy a huge bag, which he uncovered with a flourish. "Here is your balloon bouquet! Enjoy."  
  
"Thank you," Tommy said politely. The man left as we admired the balloons and what things they  
  
had inside.  
  
"You really went all out! Thanks again!" I said happily, after we stuffed the balloons in the car.  
  
"Like you didn't! I love the cds and the cookies. And you made them yourself!"  
  
"Yeah, me and Betty Crocker," I said dryly. Even though my cooking skills had gotten better, they  
  
still were below average, to me anyway.  
  
We went back inside the school to find the gym packed out. We went back on the dance floor for a  
  
slow song. I laid my head on Tommy's shoulder and closed my eyes. For the moment, I was in  
  
heaven.  
  
I felt Tommy come to a dead stop. "Why aren't we dancing? The song's still going!" I asked, still  
  
with my eyes closed.  
  
"Look at the doorway," Tommy said in an oddly strained voice. I opened my eyes to see Dil and Joe  
  
in the doorway, dressed in matching tuxes, and holding hands. I took in both the happy expression  
  
on their faces and some of the shocked ones around us.  
  
"How could they!" Tommy sputtered. Before I could stop him, he ran out of the gym. I rolled my  
  
eyes heavenward and followed him at a more leisurely pace.  
  
At the door, where Dil and Joe were still standing, I paused. "You guys look good!" I said  
  
admiringly.  
  
"So do you, Lil," Joe replied.  
  
Dil looked over at his date. "Hey, I need to talk to Lil for a second. Is that okay?"  
  
"Sure. I'll go grab us some punch, okay?" Joe released Dil's hand and moved torwards the  
  
refreshment table, ignoring the stares he was receiving.  
  
"So, what did you need, short stuff?" I asked Dil, using an old nickname.  
  
"I really want Tommy to be able to accept this. I mean, it's very important to me. Why can't Tommy  
  
see that?"  
  
"I know, but you and I both know how stubborn he is. I can't make him do anything he doesn't want  
  
to."  
  
Dil sighed. "It's just that, well, I love Joe," he blurted.  
  
"Really!"  
  
"Yeah. I have for a long time now. And I'm happier than I've ever been. If my own brother would come  
  
around, that would...."  
  
"I know." I patted Dil's arm. "I will talk to him. Now, I've got to go before he leaves me. Have fun."  
  
For the first time, Dil looked around and noticed all of the stares that people were directing his way.  
  
He gulped. "Um, I'll try?"  
  
"That's the spirit," I quipped as I walked out to the parking lot. As expected, Tommy was sitting in  
  
the car, with the motor running. I got in and barely fastened my seatbelt before Tommy took off.  
  
"Slow down! Are you trying to make me wet myself?"  
  
"Oh, sorry Lilly." He slowed down about ten miles.  
  
"Are you going to talk about what happened back there?" I asked after we had ridden a while in  
  
silence.  
  
"What's there to say?"  
  
"How about, that's your brother, who's dying for you to at least act like you care about him. He's  
  
torn up about you!"  
  
"First Phil, and then you! Do you guys think that I'm some kind of bigot?"  
  
"No, and that's what's so bad! We know how cool you are. Don't you think that's why Dil was  
  
unafraid to tell you? Because he knew that how bad anyone else reacted, you would be there for  
  
him." I half turned in my seat to face Tommy. "Please, I'm not acting you to accept everything  
  
overnight. But give Dil some support."  
  
"I'll try." He looked at me sharply. "But don't expect miracles, okay?"  
  
"I won't. Now that the serious talk's done, and we ditched the dance, do you want to make out at  
  
Lover's Road?"  
  
He laughed, relieved. "Sounds like a plan."

Dil:  
  
Dil shuffled through his closet, increasingly irritated. He was going out to dinner with Joe, and all  
  
Joe would say was that it was a fancy place, so "your jeans are not going to cut it, Dillon." So far,  
  
Dil had found a pair of flat front khakis, but no kind of sweater or anything to match.  
  
Tommy entered the room, throwing his jacket on the desk. "Whatcha looking for?"  
  
"A damn sweater. And I can't find one to match these pants! Why couldn't I been born with your  
  
fashion sense?"  
  
"Because no one has my fashion sense," Tommy grinned. He went to his own closet and pulled out  
  
a ribbed brown sweater. "Here, try this. The sleeves are too long for me."  
  
Dil slipped into the sweater and found that it fit perfectly. "Hey, thanks man."  
  
"No prob."  
  
As Dil left the room, he smiled. Tommy and his relationship was still strained, but both of them were  
  
making efforts to reach out to each other.  
  
As he got downstairs, Dil heard Joe's horn blowing. He went outside and got into the car. "Hey."  
  
"Hey. Nice sweater." Joe cranked up the stereo as they drove off.  
  
"Thanks. Tommy picked it out for me. Think he's coming around, and I'm glad, because I want him  
  
to accept the person I love."  
  
As the car stopped at a red light, Joe looked over at Dil. "You love me?"  
  
"Of course! Think I date you for your money?"  
  
Joe laughed. "Well, I love you! Thank we should kiss now?"  
  
Dil, while carefully keeping an eye on the light, kissed Joe on the cheek. "And there's more where  
  
that carme from."  
  
They both laughed as the light changed and they sped off.


	5. March

 A/N: This chapter contains violence. You have been warned.

Dil and Tommy:

Dil walked down the hallway, feeling the hostile glances of his classmates on his back. Since the Valentine's Dance, he and Joe had been the recipient of those looks more often than not. The only people who still treated him the same were his circle of friends, and to his surprise, Meagan, who told him shyly that he and Joe made a cute couple.

'It would be all right, if only Tommy would come around,' he thought to himself. Even though Tommy's attitude was better than it was, he still wasn't comfortable talking to Dil about Joe.

Joe came walking up to him, glancing around nervously. "What are you looking for?" Dil asked curiously.

"Nothing important. I just don't want you to be any more shunned than you are."

Dil smiled at Joe's concern. "Don't worry. I'm a big boy. Anyway, are we still on for the movies after school?"

"Sure. I heard that this movie is full of HoYay! Of course, we will have to see and judge."

"Deal. Meet you at 4, alright?" Dil glanced at his watch and groaned. "I have to get to gym. See you." He dropped his voice. "Love you."

"Love you too," Joe whispered back, eyes sparkling. "Bye."

Dil ran the rest of the way to gym, happy and unaware of what was waiting on him.

Instead of his classmates milling around in the gym, all of the guys were in the locker room. When Dil entered the room, conversation abruptly stopped as they turned to stare at him with hate in their eyes...

... And he could taste the fear, his fear, in his mouth. He remembered an incident from childhood, when he was young and still was sickly. He and Tommy had been fighting, and as usual, he was congested from a cold. Tommy had clapped a hand over his mouth, and for seconds that felt like hours, Dil couldn't breathe. The fear had risen, unbidden, like bile at the back of his throat. He had been too scared to make a sound, bite Tommy's hand, or anything. He just stood there, terrified, until Tommy had realized what he'd done. He had apologized. Afterwards, they still fought, but never had Tommy ever put a hand over his mouth again.

He dimly heard the taunts and threats that his "friends" were directing at him. He still was concentrating on not reacting, not crying; not doing anything that would make them react any more than they were.

One of his long time classmates, Jim Mitchell, came up to him. "I bet you been looking at us the whole time we been changing in here!"

Some of the guys shouted agreement. Out of the corner of his eye, Dil saw two guys run out. He still felt like he was trapped in the glue that was binding him in place. He could tell that the wind had changed. Some of the people in the room who had tried to stay neutral were now giving him the same evil glare that he had been seeing in the halls.

"... Gonna teach you a lesson," a new voice said. Dil knew that was his key to run, but he could only close his eyes...

*****************************************

Tommy was sitting in the lunchroom with Lil and Kim. He was attempting to take apart a tuna sandwich when two out of breath boys came up to him.

"You gotta come with us," one of them panted.

"Why? Where?" Tommy looked at them in confusion. They looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place the faces.

"Dil... the gym... they're gonna hurt him!"

"....oh..." Tommy's brain shut down. He was out of his seat and running before he realized what was really happening. He was dimly aware of Phil turning to follow him, and the girls too, but he couldn't stop, because if he stopped....

They hit the double doors. The first thing he filed away was that the gym itself was empty. No teachers, no groups of rowdy boys playing pickup.

"Where!" he barked.

The boys didn't even flinch at his tone. "In the locker room."

************************************************

Pain...

He wondered briefly if he was dead. Although he could hear the many blows landing, he couldn't see them or feel them. One part of his brain was telling him that he wasn't dead, he was just in shock. Another part was hoping for Joe to be safe, for them not to get Joe. A very insistent part was chanting like a mantra, please tommy please tommy please tommy....

************************************************

Tommy opened the door of the locker room with Phil right on his heels. At first, he couldn't hear anything, but Phil tugged on his shirt and said, "This way." As they got closer, he could hear thumps and curses, but he couldn't hear anyone pleading for it to stop or ....

Tommy's heart was beating like a trip hammer as he rounded the corner and ran blindly into several boys, watching but not stopping it. He pushed through them and saw what appeared to be five boys dancing wildly. Their feet were flailing as they kicked the unconscious person beneath them. He grabbed the one closest to him and threw him into a bank of lockers. The other boys stopped as Tommy approached them. The ringleader stopped too and shot Tommy an utterly blank look.

"Hey Pickles, did you come to beat your fag brother too?"

Tommy could never remember that split second. One minute he was looking at the guy, the next minute the guy was out on the floor, and Tommy's knuckles were stinging. After the people were out of the way, he sat down next to his brother. "Go get help," he said calmly to Phil. Their eyes met, and then Phil ran out of the locker room. Tommy cradled Dil's head on his lap. "I'm sorry, Dil."

***************************************************

Later, they sat in the hospital. Tommy had refused to leave Dil's side, even as the paramedics came and they rode in the ambulance. He dimly remembered giving his keys to Lil, but his memory shut down, blocking out details that didn't pertain to Dil.

Dil. Who had just been beaten severely. The doctors had said something about internal bleeding, about maxillofacial damage, about head trauma. They had taken him to surgery over eight hours ago. He hadn't left Dil until the doctors had passed the 'do not enter' signs, and then he had stared helplessly at his brother until he couldn't see him anymore.

At the moment, he was sitting with Lil, who was holding his hand, which he couldn't feel, and Chuck, who was drawing angry thick lines on his sketch pad. His parents were there, and the DeVilles and the Finsters, and his Uncle Drew and Aunt Charlotte. 

Angelica came running in. Seeing everyone there, she opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it again and made her way over to Tommy. Kneeling in front of him, she hugged him, and then whispered in his ear, "You look like shit."

"I feel like shit," he answered honestly.

She stood up. "Walk with me to the cafeteria?"

Tommy stood up, and so did all of the teenagers. "We'll be back," Angelica informed her parents.

"Why don't you run Tommy home so that he can... change his shirt." his father suggested tiredly.

For the first time, Tommy gazed down at his clothes and noticed the rusty stains on his jersey and jeans. 'It's blood. It's my brother's blood.'

Angelica, seeing the blood drain out of Tommy's face, said only, "Okay," and shepherded him out of the waiting room. The rest of the gang followed.

"Tommy, I still have your keys, all right? We'll follow you in your car." Lil gestured to Phil, Chuck and Kim.

"Okay." 'I'm covered in my brother's blood.'

The ride back to his house was mostly silent. Tommy asked Angelica, "Who told you?"

"Phil called, and then as I was packing, my parents called."

"I like you and Phil together," Tommy said abruptly.

When they pulled in front of his dark house, Lil got out of Tommy's car and let him in. "We're going to run to the school and get Chuck's car. We'll meet you back here."

Wordlessly, he nodded and went into his house. He started climbing the steps to his room as Angelica called up, "I'll be down here if you need anything!"

Instead of arguing that he wasn't an invalid, he went into his room, which looked the same as he had left it. He went over to his dresser and pulled out another pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Going into the bathroom, he gazed into the mirror. His skin was the color of buttermilk, and his normally sunny blue eyes were stormy. "Angelica's right. I do look like shit," he said aloud.

He took a quick shower before he changed. He was just coming down the stairs when his and Chuck's cars pulled back up to his house.

"Ready?" Angelica said, standing up from sitting on the couch.

"Yeah."

As he got back into his car, which Lil was still driving, Phil went to ride with Angelica.

"I told her that I liked her and Phil together," Tommy said quietly.

"They work surprisingly well." Lil drove through the streets smoothly. "Tommy... are you okay? Yes, I realize what happened, and no, I don't know how you feel. But you know that... Dil's like my little brother, too."

"I guess I'm numb," he said. "I know that I'll be torn up when it actually hits, but right now I can't feel anything."

"When it hits, I'll be there, okay? We all will. Susan and Tim are flying back tonight."

They parked in the hospital lot and ran back to the waiting room. "Any news?" Tommy asked his parents.

"Nothing yet," his mother answered.

As they sat back down, Tommy thought of something. "Did anyone call Joe?"

"I can. I have his number." Chuck went over to the bank of pay phones. "I forgot that you can't use a cell phone in a hospital."

"I'll go outside with you," Tommy said.

They walked back out into the crisp night. "Could you just dial the number for me? I want to talk to him."

"Tommy..."

"I'm not going to ask for his head on a platter. It's just... no one told him, and I think that I need to be the one."

Chuck dialed the number and handed the phone to Tommy. 

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is Joe there?"

"May I ask who calling?"

"Tommy. Dil's brother."

"Hold on, please."

There was a pause, then a new voice asked, "Hello?"

"Joe? Hi, this is Tommy. Did you hear what happened to Dil?" Tommy asked inanely. Realizing how that sounded, he mentally winced.

"Um, I heard that someone got into a fight during gym today." Joe paused. "That wasn't..."

"Dil's classmates jumped him in the locker room," Tommy said emotionlessly. "We're at Santa Maria Hospital."

"Oh my god," Joe said softly. "I'll be right there."

"Okay. Come up to the 4th floor waiting room. He's still in surgery."

"I'm on my way. Tommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Tommy hung up. "He's on his way," he said to Chuck bleakly.

"Are we going to wait on him out here?"

"No, I need to be upstairs in case the doctor has news."

They walked back in and rode up in the elevator in silence. When they got to the waiting room, his parents were missing.

"Tommy, you just missed the doctor." Lil came up to him. "Dil's out of surgery. They had to do reconstructive surgery on his face, and removed his spleen, but you knew that. He also broke his right leg, and cracked some ribs. He's in recovery, and they let your parents in to see him. It's your turn next."

"Go in with me?"

"Sure."

They linked hands and sat like that until Tommy's parents came back into the waiting room. "We're going home," his mother told him. "The doctor said that he'll sleep through the night with the sedatives that he's on."

"Is your car here?" his father asked.

"Yes. Lilly drove me."

"Okay, see you at home then." His father ruffled his hair and they left. Tommy and Lil went up to the desk and asked for Dil's room.

"You can only stay a few minutes." the nurse said. "Remember that he's on heavy medication and that he might not be responsive."

She led them to a tiny room. "You have ten minutes."

Tommy went up to Dil's bedside. He was attached to a lot of different monitors, which were beeping steadily. His head and face were bandaged. The only thing that looked familiar about him was the shock of curly orange hair that was sticking up. Tommy touched it softly.

"I'm... sorry, Dil. I know that you just wanted me to understand.... but I wish that it wouldn't have taken this for me to see. I love you." He touched the hair again and then turned back to Lil. "I'm ready."

When they walked out to the waiting room, Joe was sitting there beside Chuck. When he spotted Tommy, he stood up and walked over to him.

"Is he..."

"He's asleep. You can go see him, if you want. Just ask at that desk there."

"I'm sorry, Tommy. If I hadn't asked him..."

"Dil didn't do anything he didn't want to." Tommy clumsily patted Joe's shoulder. "I'm heading home, because I want to be back early so he won't wake up alone."

"I'll be back, too."

"Bye."

Tommy walked to the elevators, with Lil right behind him. They made it to his car and got in. Lil drove without a word. When they pulled in front of their houses, Tommy asked Lil, "Will you stay with me?"

"Sure. Just let me leave a note." As she ran next door, Tommy went into his house and noted that both of his parents were sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee.

"I thought you were going to sleep."

"We're wired now. After we calm down a little, then we can get some sleep." His father put down his coffee cup. "Did you see him?"

"Yeah." In the background, Tommy could hear Lil knocking. "That's Lilly. She's spending the night."

Tommy half expected his parents to protest, but they just nodded distractedly.

He went back into the living room and let her in. "Come on upstairs," he said awkwardly.

"Won't your parents be upset?"

"Won't yours?" he countered. "I already told my parents. They're in the kitchen."

They went into the bedroom and sat down on Tommy's bed. "Do you want to share this bed?" Lil asked. 

His first response was to tell her to take Dil's bed. As he gazed at his brother's side of the room, the voices in his head started shouting.

(My brother's blood)

(Dil... the gym... they're gonna hurt him)

(internal bleeding... head trauma)

(hospital)

(Change your shirt)

The events of the day came crashing back into his head with a vengeance. Once he realized, really realized what had happened, (my brother was beaten) his whole body started shaking. He didn't realize that he was crying aloud until Lil hugged him.

"Shh... Tommy, you're screaming!" 

He couldn't stop the noises that were coming out of his mouth, like a wounded animal. He screamed until his throat was hoarse, but the tears still flowed.

"Tommy, it's okay. He..."

"It's my fault," he rasped. "I'm his brother, the one person he should be able to come to for anything. If I had shown that I was okay with it, then other people would have... left him alone."

"It's not your fault!"

"All he wanted to do was show who he loved," Tommy mourned. "It's the same thing we do at school each day. We hold hands, hug, and sometimes kiss in the halls. Why is it okay for us and not okay for them?"

"I don' t know." Lil held on to him as the tears started to slow.

After the tears had stopped, they curled on his bed, wrapped up together. Tommy fell into a troubled sleep, still haunted by what had happened.

Phil and Angelica:

"So, how long are you staying?" They were sitting in an all-night diner, picking at some greasy cheeseburgers. Phil had mentioned that he hadn't eaten since breakfast, but seeing how the hamburger had soaked the bun was an appetite killer.

"As long as I need to. It's not like I'm behind in my classes." Angelica took Phil's hand. "You didn't tell me... how did you find out?"

"Well, I was walking to lunch to meet everyone, when Tommy comes tearing out of the lunchroom like a bat out of hell. Lil and Kim were right behind him. They shouted to me, "Dil's in trouble!" I took off after Tommy and we ran to the locker room. And... found him."

"How long had this been going on?"

"The persecution or the relationship?"

"Both."

"Dil started seeing Joe openly in February. They went to the Valentine's Dance together. People were hostile, but this was the first big incident that I heard of."

"The school population of SHHS never struck me as bigots."

"It's a small town. Being different is not accepted."

"How did Uncle Stu and Aunt Didi react?"

"They were surprised, to say the least. Apparently Dil and Joe had been together for a month before they even told anyone."

"Boy, you miss a lot when you're away," Angelica mused.

"Well, I miss you, Angie."

"Watch it, DeVille. Talk like that..." Angelica stopped and smiled fondly. Then she sobered up. "So what's going to happen to those boys? The ones who..."

"Um, I'm not sure. We left the school after the ambulance came. I guess the principal knows, because she's the one I talked to when I called 911." Phil yawned widely. "Sorry."

"It's okay. It is," Angelica glanced at her watch, "Almost one in the morning."

"Are you staying at your parents' house?"

"Yeah, might as well take advantage of the bed there. Why? You invitin'?"

"Not for that," Phil blushed. "It's just that... I never realized that there was hatred in the world like that. How can someone hate another human being so much that they would do their best to kill them?"

"That's the big one, Phil. If I knew, I would tell you." She stood up and Phil did too, after tossing some money on the table. "Look, if you want me to stay with you, I will."

"I do."

"Okay."

Chuck:

"Kim? Kim, wake up!"

Kim, who had been curled up in the passenger seat, sighed and sat up. "Are we here?"

"Yeah." They were at the airport, picking up Susan and Tim. Both of them had caught the earliest flights available, but they still weren't arriving until 3am and 3:30am, respectively. Susan had confessed to Chuck that she had booked her flight on her 'emergency' credit card. But she insisted that she had to be there, for everyone.

As they waited impatiently at the gate, Chuck touched Kim's arm. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm not trying to think about it. I can almost fool myself into thinking that we're just picking up Susan and Tim because..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away. Chuck waited patiently, knowing that Kim wouldn't want him to acknowledge her tears. She pulled herself together and looked up at him.

"What about you? How are you holding up? I can drive home if you want."

"I guess I'm just... I thought our town was safe. Of all of the things I pictured happening my senior year, witnessing a hate crime wasn't one of them."

"I know. I guess I just assumed that everyone would be would be okay with it as we were."

"Tommy wasn't okay with it," Chuck pointed out.

"But... true." Kim turned to stare out the windows and hugged herself. "You know, now I'm looking forward to school being out. I wanted this year to go on forever, but now I'm tired." To punctuate that, she yawned.

"Yes, you are. Hey, it's," Chuck glanced at his watch, "2:50am. You're entitled. And I agree. When I graduate, I'll miss being in school with you guys, but I'll be glad to be in San Francisco."

"Why, Chuck, I'm touched. I'll miss you too."

"So... is this the part where we hug?" he asked teasingly.

"Not on your life," Kim said, and then smiled wickedly as she threw her arms around her brother. "You know I appreciate you."

"I know." After they let go of each other, Chuck checked his watch again. "Five more minutes before her plane lands, then we have to do a mad dash across the airport to pick up Tim."

Chuck and Kim went up to the window to watch the plane descend and land, and finally pull up to the gate they were at. As soon as the doors to the ramp opened, Susan came dashing off.

"Susie!" Chuck said before he could stop himself.

"Chuckie!" she replied. "Now, enough with the flashbacks. Come here." They embraced, Chuck just enjoying the feel of his girlfriend in his arms. When they parted, Susan looked up at him. "So, any news?"

"He's resting right now. We're supposed to meet at the hospital at 6 so he doesn't wake alone, but I don't know if I'll make that."

They grabbed her luggage off of the carousel and made their way to the gate for Tim. As they sat in the uncomfortable seats, Kim curled back up and went to sleep. Susan laid her head on Chuck's shoulder.

"I wish now that I had never transferred to Purdue," she said softly. "If I had stayed at SMU, then I would have been here sooner."

"You had to do what's best for you," Chuck pointed out.  "Besides, staying close to home because something might happen is not a good excuse."

"I know. I just feel bad."

Tim emerged from his plane. Chuck stood up and shook hands with him. Tim said a polite greeting to Susan before looking around for Kim. "She is here, right?"

"Look," Chuck pointed to where she was still asleep. Tim walked over and picked her up. 

They retrieved his suitcase and made their way to Chuck's car. 

"Where's everyone headed for tonight?" Chuck asked.

"My parents are expecting me," Susan said. "I called them before I went to the airport."

"And I'll probably get a hotel room," Tim said. 

"You can stay with us," Kim said sleepily.

"I'm sure your parents will be delighted to have me in the same house as their 'innocent' daughter," Tim muttered.

"I have an extra bed in my room. You can sleep there," Chuck offered.

"Okay."

They dropped Susan off at her house, promising to come get her before they went back to the hospital.  When they pulled in front of their own house, Chuck had to wake the passengers in the back seat. By the time that they got into their various beds, it was already 4:30am. Chuck immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.

Tommy:

My alarm went off with its usual soft tones. As I glanced outside, wondering why it was still dark, someone shifted next to me in my bed.

"Holy sh..." I pulled the covers down to reveal Lil, who was still asleep. I looked at her in amazement for a split second before my radio kicked into R.E.M.'s "Imitation of Life". As the song blared, the events of the previous day came back into my head.

Lil sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Tommy, you alright?"

"Yeah, I think." I climbed over her carefully and turned off my alarm. "You still coming with me to the hospital?"

"Of course. Want to take a shower first?"

Normally, I would make a joke about us showering together (to save water), but instead I nodded slowly and stumbled to the bathroom.

As I stood under the steaming hot spray, I tried to think about the things I had to do that day. Call the school and identify the guys who had attacked Dil, pick up his assignments from his teachers, pick mine up, because I was staying with my brother until he got better...

I shook myself mentally and got out of the shower. I toweled off roughly and put on a blue sweatshirt and jeans. As I came out of the bathroom, Lil was standing in the doorway of my room, fully dressed.

"How'd you manage that?" I asked her.

"Dashed next door. Phil and Angelica are getting ready now."

"You mean she spent the night over your house?"

"Just like I did," Lil pointed out. "I doubt any of us were in the mood last night." She realized what she said and blushed slightly.

"I didn't mean it like that. Um, could you call Chuck for me while I find some shoes?" As I went through my closet, wondering where exactly I threw my shoes last night, I heard Lil briefly talk to Chuck.

"He says that they'll meet us at the hospital, but not to expect them too early because they didn't get to bed until almost 5," Lil reported.

"What time is it now?" I finally found a pair of shoes and slipped them on.

"Almost 6:30."

"Okay. Keys, wallet," I muttered, as I grabbed the items and stuffed them into my pockets. "Ready?"

"Sure."

We got into my car as Phil and Angelica were emerging from next door. "Are you riding with us?" Angelica yelled.

"Okay." We ran across the yard and got into her car. "What time did you get in?" I asked Angelica.

"Around 2. We stopped to eat, but the food sucked."

The ride back to Santa Maria didn't take long, and we arrived at the hospital right before 7am. We went up to the ICU where Dil was. In the waiting room, families were sitting together, asleep. I was surprised to see Joe sitting there, sleeping in one of the chairs. I walked over to him and shook him gently.

"Oh, hey Tommy," he said groggily. 

"Hey. Did you stay all night?"

"Yeah," he said simply.

"Thanks," I said sincerely.

I went up to the desk to ask to see Dil, and was informed that visiting hours didn't start until 9am. We decided to go and grab some breakfast before coming back to the hospital. I called Chuck and let him know what was going on. He said that they would meet us at nine, after his parents called the school to say that he and Kim would be absent.

We ended back at the diner that Phil and Angelica had gone to last night. As soon as I picked up the menu, my appetite fled. I put it back down and looked into the concerned face of Lil. "Not hungry, " I explained briefly.

"Maybe we can eat after we see Dil?" Angelica suggested. She, too, threw down her menu and stood up. "This food looks even less appealing now that I'm awake."

"Sounds like a plan," Phil agreed. "What do you think, Lil?"

"I don't care one way or the other. Joe?"

"Okay with me. So what'll we do now?"

"We can go to my house," Angelica said. "It's the closest to the hospital. And my parents are probably at work now."

"Did your parents go into work today, Tommy?" Phil asked.

"They weren't up yet when we left. I don't think that they will, though."

We went back out to the car and piled in. Joe had left his car at the hospital. The ride to Angelica's house didn't take long. She let us in and we sat in her living room, exhausted but too wired to sleep.

We started making small talk and ended up telling stories about Dil.

"I remember when I was twelve, and Dil was nine, I was over his house and I was showing Aunt Didi my new bra," Angelica explained. "Anyway, he was in the kitchen with us, and I didn't think he was paying attention to what I was saying. When I pulled it out of the bag, Dil asked his mother what it was for, and when she explained it, he grumbled, 'Man, girls get all the cool stuff'. I fell out of my chair laughing."

"What about the time he got us all grounded because he asked Mom and Dad why couldn't he go to co-ed slumber parties?" I interjected.

"Or the time that he hid out in the back seat of the car on one of Chuck and Susan's dates?" Phil said. "Come to think about it, that was just a couple of years ago."

"Why did he do that?" Joe asked.

"Who knows. Probably to prank on them, but it didn't work because Susan threw her sweater in the back and Dil's allergic to wool, so he started itching. Loudly." Lil laughed at the memory.

"What did they do once they found them?" Joe asked curiously.

"Just took him back home. That was par for the course for Dil." I sat back on the couch, and realized that I was actually talking civilly to my brother's boyfriend. 'I can do this,' I realized.

Angelica looked at her wall clock. "Guys, it's 8:30 now. If we leave for the hospital now, we'll be there right at nine."

We got back into the car. This time, someone cut on the radio, and a cheerful song was playing. "Hey, don't write yourself off yet. It's only in your head you feel left out, or put down on. Just do your best, the very best you can..." I kinda hummed along with the words. When it got to the chorus, everyone sang along.

"...everything, everything will be just fine, everything, everything will be all right, all right!"

Lil:

We pulled into the parking lot, still singing to the song. For some reason, I felt a lot better. I glanced at Tommy and he was looking a lot more relaxed, too.

He tugged my hand as we were about to go up in the elevator. "Hey guys, we'll meet you up there. We wanna stop at the gift store." Our friends accepted that and went up without us.

"We want to go to the gift store? Is this an attempt to get me to buy you candy?" I demanded teasingly.

"Actually, I wanted to tell you something before we went up to see Dil." Tommy cleared his throat and started, "I've been acting like a fool. No, I take that back. I've been acting like a damn fool. Joe's a nice guy. I liked him when we were in class together. So why, because he's dating my brother, should any of that change?"

"It's what I've been saying all along," I reminded him a little smugly.

"Yeah, yeah," Tommy shot back. Then his expression sobered. "I could have lost my brother yesterday. The very idea scares the shit out of me! And I was too stubborn to tell him how much he meant to me. But I'm going to tell him when we go up."

"Good for you, Tommy. You know, maybe I could give Phil a hug," I mused, as my eyes filled with tears.

Tommy groaned as he looked at me. "Jeez, Lilly, don't cry! Hug your brother if it makes you feel good."

Instead, I threw my arms around him. He stood stunned for a moment, and then gripped me tightly. We stood there like that for a moment before we let go. 

"Well, ready to go up?" I asked, after carefully wiping my eyes.

"Yeah, I am."

We got into the elevator and rode up in silence, although we held hands and smiled at each other. Tommy and I both knew that the words we had left were for Dil.

When we got to the 4th floor ICU, where Dil was, our friends and family were there, laughing. My mom and dad were there, along with Mr and Mrs Pickles.

"Tommy, Dil's asking for you," Mr Pickles said. He ruffled Tommy's hair and told him to go on in. As he walked in the room, I sat down next to Phil and Angelica. 

Without saying anything, I hugged Phil tightly. He returned my hug without a reaction. Sometimes, having a twin who's on your same wavelength is really nice.

Dil:

A knock sounded on his door. Really, the knock was unnecessary, because the door was open. Dil appreciated the effort, though. "Come in," he called, surprised at how weak his voice sounded.

Tommy stuck his head in the door. "Hey, little bro. Glad to see you awake."

"Glad to be awake," Dil replied. "Have a seat in one of the uncomfortable chairs."

Tommy did so, dragging it to Dil's bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Not in this world, that's for sure. Morphine drip and all."

"And you're awake? Monster tolerance," Tommy commented.

"Yeah, well..." Dil didn't have the heart to tell his brother that sleep only brought back memories of what had happened yesterday. It was easier to be awake and in pain. Unconsciously, he reached up and touched where his face was bandaged. "What happened here?" 

Tommy winced. "Um, you have a shattered cheekbone. The doctors went in and reset it, so it'll heal good as new."

"I don't remember that," Dil said softly.

"Dil, I want to tell you something. You're my brother, and I love you. Not to be all mushy or anything." Tommy got up and paced as he spoke. "Losing you would be one of the worst things that would ever happen to me, if not the worst. And... I like Joe. He's good people. But don't tell me things about him that I wouldn't like. I don't want to know if he's a good kisser. Don't think I could handle that."

"Believe me, I'm not telling. You might try to steal him," Dil teased. He started to smile broadly, but was rewarded with a stabbing pain in his cheek. He gasped audibly, which was enough for Tommy to panic.

"What? What's wrong? Do you want me to call the nurse?"

"No, I'm fine. I probably should watch the big cheesy grins, though. They put pressure on the cheekbone."

"When did the doctor say that you might be released?"

"In a week or so. I guess this means our spring break spectacular is out."

"No, we'll still go, even if we have to get you a wheelchair and send you hurtling down mountains."

"Tommy, we're going to Florida. There is no way that Mom and Dad will let me go." 'Although," thought Dil, 'it might have been nice for me to spend time with Joe in Florida. Us, blue skies, sand...'

"Dil!" Tommy's voice snapped Dil out of his reverie. "I've been calling you!"

"Sorry, I was spacing," Dil apologized. "What's up?"

"I think Mom and Dad would let you go, especially if I convinced them that you need the sun to heal better."

"Okay," Dil said doubtfully. 

"Look, trust me on this one. Well, to change the subject, are you going back to SHHS? I mean, I haven't talked to Mom and Dad or anything, but..."

"Of course I am," Dil interrupted. "I'll be damned if those people keep me from going to the school that my friends and family do. Not to mention that it's the only public school in our town. I'd have to go to a private school."

"True," Tommy admitted. 

"Are you going to get our assignments today from school?"

"I was planning to, yes."

"Look, there's some paper over there," Dil said, gesturing to the nightstand that was too far for him to reach. "Could you write something down for me?"

"Sure."

Closing his eyes, Dil began to picture the guys that had attacked him. Although Tommy had seen them, he didn't know their names, and Dil did. He slowly recited the list of names. "And you can give that to the principal for me, okay?"

"I was just about to ask about that. Phil said that he talked to her yesterday, but I don't know what all he told her."

Dil sighed, noting how the action hurt his chest. He shut his eyes. "Tommy, if you don't mind, I want to get some rest now."

"No, that's fine. Um, did Joe already come in to see you?"

"He's here?"

"Dil, he stayed all night at the hospital."

"Really?" Without thinking about it, Dil grinned, not caring about the pain in his cheek. "Man, he's crazy!"

"Try devoted," Tommy said admiringly. "Look, is it okay if I send him in?"

"Yeah, it's okay."

Tommy left the room, and Joe entered a minute later. "Hi, Dillon."

"Hi, Joseph. Please, sit down. So, how's the family?"

"Pissed that I'm here. 'You'll ruin your perfect attendance record!'" Joe said in a squeaky voice. "Like the fact that my boyfriend's in the hospital shouldn't stand in the way of school for once. Anyway, how are you feeling?"

"A little sleepy, a lot scared," Dil admitted. "I want to sleep, but every time I close my eyes, I see it happen over and over again. You know something, Joe? I'm a coward. I knew that those guys were up to something bad, but I just stood there. I couldn't even run. Didn't even try to defend myself. All I could do was take it."

"I don't think you're a coward," Joe said quietly. "I think you had a normal reaction. God knows how I would have reacted. Probably would have messed my pants or something."

"Yeah, well, still." Dil yawned as well as he could without putting pressure on the cheekbone.

"Look. I'll stay with you. Maybe that will help you sleep."

"Well, it's worth a shot. Thanks." Dil closed his eyes again and got as comfortable as he could. Joe took his hand as he lay there. Surprisingly, instead of thinking about the attack, he thought about Florida. Him and Joe walking through the beach, at sunset, Joe stopping occasionally to steal kisses...

Phil:

School after the incident was anticlimactic, to say the least. After Dil identified the guys, two more guys stepped forward as witnesses. All of the guys were expelled, not because of the incident, particularly, but because our school has an automatic expelling for fighting policy. Dil got of the hospital a week and a half after his attack, sooner than the doctors wanted him to stay, but Dil said that lying in that bed was doing more to hurt him than the whole thing had. Tommy came back to school after Dil got out of the hospital, but wasn't happy about it. We weren't happy, either, because Chuck, Kim, Lil, and I had missed about three days of school and the counselors wanted to count those absences as unexcused. Our parents came up to the school and argued that, but to no avail. So the week before our spring break started found us snappish and ready for the whole school year to be done with. Our teachers seemed to feel the way we did, because they didn't assign homework or anything. On Wednesday, our principal announced that we were having a school-wide assembly, with the theme being 'tolerance'.

When we heard about the assembly in homeroom, we groaned. "Like we really want to hear about what we've been living through for the last two weeks," Tommy said.

"My thoughts exactly," I agreed. "Why do we have to go, anyway? Everyone's gonna know who they're talking about."

"Maybe we can just cut out," Lil mused out loud. When we all turned to look at her, instead of blushing, she looked back at us steadily. "Well? We can round up Joe and Chuck and we'll go to Tommy's house and talk about spring break."

"Good, no, great idea, Lil!" Kim exclaimed, bouncing in her seat. "Can we stop and buy snacks? It'll be like a mini-party."

"Sounds good to me," I said. "Tell you what. Kim, you can get Chuck, and I'll get Joe, and we'll meet at the cars."

"You guys are really going to cut out?" Tommy said wonderingly.

I frowned at him. "Since when are you turning down a party?"

"Well, if I had suggested this, you guys would usually tell me to be serious."

"Sorry." I said, not sounding the least apologetic. "Is everyone in agreement, then?"

"Yes!" everyone said and laughed.

When the bell rang, signaling for us to go to the auditorium, I went to Joe's homeroom. He was just emerging when I got there. "Joe!" I called, to get his attention.

He trotted over to me. "Hey Phil. What's up?"

"Need to go to your locker for anything?"

"What?"

"Play along," I mock whispered, then raised my voice again. "Oh, you left your book in your locker? You should get that."

"Oh, yeah! Come on man, I'll get that for you." As we started moving to his locker, which was next to the exit to the students' parking lot, he asked, "So, what was that about?"

"We're cutting out. Grab your coat. No, wait!" A teacher passed us, and I made a point to look innocent until she passed by. "Okay, now."

As soon as Joe threw his things into the locker, we ran out the exit, laughing the whole way. "Now I know why I don't cut classes all the time," Joe said, panting. "I act like a dork."

Shaking my head at him, I patted his arm. "It's okay. Stick with me, and you'll learn from the master."

We walked over to the cars, where everyone except Tommy was waiting. "Okay, how did we lose him?" I asked.

"A teacher stopped him and asked him to say a few words at the assembly. He's trying to work up enough tears to tell them that speaking today would be just too traumatic," Lil explained. "He'll be right out."

As she was speaking, Tommy came running up. "We have to leave now. I just called home and Dil said that Mom's there and wants to tell us something."

"Wonder what it could be?" I said, as I sat in Chuck's car with Kim. Lil was riding with Tommy, and Joe was dropping his car off at his house.

"She probably just wants to ask us why we're skipping school en masse." Chuck said practically. 

We stopped by Joe's house and he got into Chuck's car too. "Thanks," he told Chuck.

"No problem. Are you planning to go back to school today?" Chuck asked us.

"No," Kim and I said together.

"I mean, what's the point? All anyone will do is talk about the assembly anyway. I already live in an afterschool special, so why rub it in?" Kim said, rolling her eyes.

"Why an afterschool special?" I asked her.

"Think about it. This school year has had enough drama to choke a horse. The only thing missing is for Lil or I to become an unwed mother."

"Rule number 5!" Chuck shouted.

"Which is..." Joe started.

"No discussing TMI subjects while Chuck's behind the wheel. You know, that would not be a problem if you let me drive."

"No, you're not getting behind the wheel of my car!" Chuck patted the dashboard. "Just ignore her, Sherry. She's just playing."

"You named your car Sherry?" I blurted out.

"What? Not all of us can call our cars The DeVille Mobile like you do." Kim smirked at me.

"It rhymes," I grumbled, sitting back in the seat.

"Yes, it does." Kim patted my head. "And you thought of that by yourself? What a big boy!"

Chuck pulled up in front of the Pickles' house. "Okay, everyone out!"

We got out and ran to the door before Tommy could park his car. As we stood there discussing whether cars were male or female, the door swung open.

"Hey guys!" Dil stood there, carefully balancing on crutches. The only outward signs of trauma were the cast still on his leg and his bandaged cheek. Other than that, he looked his normal self. "Come in. Mom's waiting in the kitchen." 

We all trooped into the kitchen, where Mrs Pickles was pulling out a batch of cookies from the oven. "Hi, kids," she said out of habit.

"Hi, Mrs Pickles," we chorused.

"Well, I talked to your parents, and we decided. You guys have really worked hard this year, and you deserve a break, so..." She handed Tommy an envelope. When he stood there for a minute, she said, "Go ahead, open it!"

He did so, revealing plane tickets. "These are to... Florida. Guys, we're going to Florida!"

The kitchen erupted with chaos. We started hugging each other and I'm sure I acted like my sister, but hey, Florida!

"When are we leaving?" Kim had the presence of mind to ask.

"You are leaving Friday night," Mrs Pickles told us. "And that's the other part of the surprise- since Chuck's eighteen, and the rest of you aren't much younger, we rented a house down there. It's your responsibility for a week."

"You mean, we're going by ourselves?" I asked, grinning.

"Yes."

========================================================================The angst section of the story is over! At least for now. Sunny fun commences next chapter!


	6. April

A/N: Man! Only three more chapters to go! Thanks for all those who are still keeping up with my twisted tale. In the next chapter, everyone who reviewed is getting a special thank you. Like I stated at the end of the previous chapter, these last chapters will be angst-free, for the most part. After this, Finally Seniors will start. Well, enough thinking ahead- here's...

April

Tommy:

"So, are you packed?"

I rolled my eyes at the question. "We're not leaving for another eight hours, Dil! I'm almost ready."

As I drove around town, I made a mental note to find some suitcases.

Dil snorted at my answer. "I seriously doubt that, but okay. Hey, thanks again for taking me to get some stuff."

"No problem. It gave me a good excuse to miss school, anyway." Today was Friday, and I had convinced my parents that since our teachers were mentally on vacation anyway, that my time would be better served helping my poor little brother shop.

After we finished picking up some clothes for Dil (mostly pants and shorts large enough to slip over his cast), we headed in. When we arrived at the house, Phil and Lil were just pulling in their driveway. I waved to them as we got out of our car.

"So," I said after crossing the yard, "Anything happen at school today?"

"Not a thing, thank goodness. My brain shut down at the beginning of the week." Lil sighed.

"Same here. We should be exempted from all forms of school activity during the week before spring break." Phil looked around the yard. "So, when are we leaving here?"

"Flight leaves at 1am, so around 11:30pm. That will give us enough time for check-in and all that fun stuff."

"So, Tommy," Lil asked with a twinkle in her eye, "Have you finished packing?"

"No, not finished," I hedged.

Dil, who had walked over to join us, snorted again. "Try hasn't started. Tommy doesn't seem to realize that we're leaving this Friday."

"I have too started!" In my head, I was wondering if thinking about the clothes that you wanted to take counted.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that. But don't blame me if all you have to wear is what's on your back the whole week."

"I wasn't planning to, Dilly."

"Don't call me that, Thomas."

I had to laugh on the perturbed expression on my brother's face. Not even the use of my real name spoiled my mood.

"If you want, I can help you pack, Tommy," Lil offered. "I'm already finished with my stuff."

"I'd appreciate it."

"Okay, well, just let me drop off my backpack and then I'll meet you at your house, all right?" She turned and ran swiftly into her house.

"Well, I really need to finish up my packing. See you later." Phil too, went into the DeVille house.

"I guess that's my cue to actually go get some suitcases, huh." I followed Dil inside my house.

***

My friends arrived at the house at 11:00. They were as excited as I was, and I was bouncing off the walls. My parents, and our friends' parents, kept taking pictures and giving us last minute warnings. 11:30 seemed like it took five hours to arrive. When it finally did, we piled into my parents' minivan with the other parents following us. We arrived at the airport at 12am, more than enough time to check-in, even with the extra security.

By 12:30, we were wandering around our small airport, bored and tired. I kept yawning, even though I had drank three cups of coffee since 10pm.

"Hey, let's go sit in the waiting area. At least that way we can see our plane land," Phil suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Kim agreed, and proceeded to bounce her way across the airport.

"How much of Tommy's sludge did you drink, girl!" Lil laughed.

"I'll have you know that I make really really good coffee!" I protested.

"Yeah, and that's the reason I can turn a cup of your coffee upside down," Phil said. When I opened my mouth to speak, he waved the insult off as unimportant and continued, "So, did anyone notice where Chuck, Dil, and Joe ran off to?"

We looked around in confusion. "You know, the last time I saw Chuck was when we arrived and went through the security checkpoints. He is planning to go with us, right?" Kim looked around worriedly, but never stopped bouncing.

"Aren't you worried about Dil and Joe?" Lil asked me.

"Nah. They're probably doing what we're doing, wandering around, trying to kill time. Besides, my brother's lame." As my friends looked at me, I hurriedly explained, "With the leg and all. So they're probably already at the seats."

Sure enough, when we got to the concourse, Dil and Joe were there with all of the parents, staring out the windows. When they noticed us, they motioned for all of us to come over to where they were.

"Look, I think something's up." Dil said bluntly. "Our parents are plotting, and Chuck's gone."

"And how is any of that different from usual?" Phil asked.

"They keep saying things like 'oh, they'll be surprised' and 'we really pulled this one off'. Maybe they're shipping us off to some camp or something."

"You're such a pessimist. Maybe it's something like they got us some kind of presents. Anyway, you guys haven't seen Chuck either?" Kim stopped her bouncing and began searching for her brother in earnest.

"Well, it's," Lil checked her watch, "almost time to start boarding now. He'd better get a move on."

We watched as our plane's personnel started boarding. Then we heard the announcement, "Flight 202, from Silver Heights to Orlando, now boarding. We ask that the elderly and infirm start boarding now."

"Hey!" Dil swung around on his crutches. "I'm infirm!"

"Only you would be happy about it," I said as he quickly maneuvered over to the gate. He showed the flight attendant his boarding pass, and they had a quick conference. Dil motioned to our parents, and I came over too, thinking that they weren't going to let him go.

"... already cleared it with the doctors," my mom said to the flight attendant.

"That's not the problem, ma'am. We think he may have difficulty with the way the seats are arranged in coach. So, we would like to upgrade him to a complementary first class ticket."

All of us (except for the flight attendant, of course) gasped in amazement. "You're kidding," Dil said when he was able to speak.

"No. I take it that will be satisfactory?" the flight attendant said, smiling.

"That will be great!" Dil smiled broadly and went on the airplane without a look back. Then he turned around and said, "Thanks, Mom and Dad! I'll call as soon as we get there!"

Our parents smiled and said good-bye as I went back over to our friends.

"What was that all about?" Lil asked curiously.

"Dil scored an upgrade to first class!" I said enviously. "Lucky broken leg."

My friends laughed as I realized what I said and then flushed slightly.

Soon, it was our turn to board. We said our final good-byes to our parents, promised to call, and finally got on the plane. Our parents must have brought a block of seats, because all of us ended up sitting together. Realizing that we could switch around after the fight started, I sat next to Chuck, Phil and Lil sat right behind us, and Kim and Joe sat across from us. As we began to taxi, I looked out the window and saw our parents, still standing at the windows, and waved one last time before we took off into the sky.

The plane ride was basically uneventful. As soon as the seatbelt sign clicked off, we got off and switched seats until the girls ended up together and us guys sat in the four seats. Luckily, it wasn't a full flight so we didn't have to worry about disturbing people. They showed an in-fight movie that we had all seen, but enjoyed, and we fell asleep and didn't wake up until the captain came on with the announcement that we were about to land and would we please fasten our seatbelts. We did and watched out the window blearily as the plane touched down and pulled up to the gate.

As people began to deplane, we turned to Chuck, because he had all of the cabin info and everything. "Um, I know this is an odd time to be thinking of this, but we do have a car and everything to get us to the house, right?" I asked curiously.

Chuck laughed, "Yes, our arrangements are all set. Ready to go?"

We moved to get off the plane, stopping to get Dil, who was still sitting in first class, listening to his headphones. When I tapped him, he stood up happily, got his backpack, which was on the seat next to him, and led us out of the plane. When he got off the ramp, he stopped dead in his tracks, making all of us exclaim in annoyance. Then we saw who he was referring to.

Angelica, Tim, and Susan were standing there, looking self satisfied. "And you thought we would miss a trip to Florida?" Angelica said, smirking after everyone started hugging and cheering.

"Wow! I mean, wow!" Kim said from the circle of Tim's arms. "How..."

"Well, apparently, your parents planned this, then called us. They did have a contact person in your group..."

"Chuck!" Phil, Dil, and I said together.

"Well, yeah," Chuck said, smirking. "And you guys say that I can't keep a secret."

"We have never said that," I said. "Well, can we discuss everything at the house?"

Lil:

Apparently, our parents had gone all out for this vacation, because Tim led us to a black SUV. "The other one's sitting at the house," he said apologetically. "I didn't stop to count and think that there would be ten people plus luggage."

"We'll be okay," Tommy said confidently, hefting luggage into the back. "We've rode in tighter cars before."

"Like the time we all rode with Tim right after he got his license." Phil came around, carrying more suitcases. "I think all of us were in the car."

"Yeah, we were, and I think we ended up with seven in the back seat. We were triple stacked!" I laughed at the memory. "Remember how you called me heavy because I sat on your lap, Tommy?"

"Yep." He finished putting the luggage in and closed the hatch. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be. At the time, I had about three inches and thirty pounds on you, at least."

"Hey! I wasn't that skinny!"

"It's okay. You're my beefy manly-man now." I put my arm around his and simpered, "Mah hero."

"I'll always protect you, little lady," Tommy said in an artificially deep voice and patted me on the head.

"Okay, now I'm sick. Phil, make them stop," Angelica commanded.

Tim hopped in the driver's seat, with Dil riding shotgun. "All of ya'll, get in!" he yelled.

In the end, we squeezed into the back two seats with Susan, Chuck, Phil, and Angelica in the middle seat and Tommy, Kim, Joe and I in the very back. The ride to the house didn't take long, which was good, because we were pretty much in a puppy pile.

Tim pulled up in front of what looked like a mansion to me and said, "Okay, we're here."

"You're kidding!" I exclaimed. As soon as I could, I scrambled out of the car and ran to stand in front of the house.

The house was gorgeous. It had a wraparound porch and I could see swings and a hammock. It was painted a soft color that was hard to distinguish in the dark, and I was too impatient to figure it out, so I ran inside, not waiting on anyone else.

The inside was as beautiful as the outside. The hallway led right to the living room, where I could see a big screen TV and a stereo system. The furniture looked almost too good to sit on, because it was all a creamy white. Walking on, I saw that we had a formal dining room (I snorted at the thought of us actually using it) a full kitchen, laundry room and bathroom. There were steps which I assumed belonged to a basement, but I wanted to look upstairs. All of the bedrooms were fully furnished, and they all had themes. I saw one with a lot of old pictures on the walls, and thought that would be perfect for Tommy. As I thought of him, I went back into the hallway and counted the rooms. Six bedrooms, ten of us... it was kinda obvious that some of us would be sharing, but the question was, who?

I went back downstairs to see what everyone else was up to, they were all standing in the living room. "So, stake out your bedroom yet?" Kim teased me.

"Actually, I found one that would be perfect for Tommy!" I stuck out my tongue at her.

Tim, Susan, and Angelica all said together, "The Photo Room!"

"They have a photo room? Cool!" Tommy turned to run up the steps.

"Wait!" Chuck yelled. "Before everyone goes tearing off, we need to assign the bedrooms. There's only six of them..."

"... and ten of us," Susan finished.

"So, let's see. Who's definitely sharing?" Angelica asked. Chuck, Susan, Phil, and Angelica immediately raised their hands. After a look at Kim, who raised her hand, Tim put his hand up too.

"Okay, that's three taken care of right there. So, that leaves Tommy, Lil, Dil, and Joe."

Before any of us could say anything, Phil said, "I have a suggestion. Why don't Tommy and Dil share? We know they don't mind sharing, and that would leave Lil and Joe with rooms to themselves."

"Sounds good to me," I said. "So, what do you guys think?"

"Same here," Tommy said. "Dil, you don't mind the Photo Room, do you?"

"Nah."

We took our suitcases upstairs and put them into our respective bedrooms. Angelica, Phil, Chuck, Susan, and Tim headed back downstairs, but I was ready to call it a night after I unpacked and everything. After I changed into my nightgown, I sat on the bed, brushing my hair when I heard a soft knock on the door. "Come in," I called.

"Hey." Tommy poked his head in. "Oh, I didn't know you were about to go to sleep."

"Yeah, I'm bushed," I said, yawning a little. "But it's okay. Come in."

He did, sitting on the bed gingerly. "So, you didn't want to share a bedroom with me?"

"That whole staying away from temptation thing. I'm sure you understand."

"I'm just teasing. I was just surprised when Kim didn't want to stay with Tim!"

"Yes she did. I guess she didn't feel comfortable just volunteering them."

"Naw. I saw that look she gave him."

I socked Tommy lightly. "And you say that girls gossip a lot! Anyway, I'm tired, and I'm going to bed. 'Night, Tommy."

"'Night, Lil." We kissed briefly before he left the room.

I climbed under the covers and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Kim:

I rolled over and started in shock. I was being held in someone's arms rather securely. I began to struggle, but stopped when I spotted a familiar thatch of blonde hair. _Tim_, I thought with relief and snuggled in deeper. Spending the whole night with Tim was something that I hadn't experienced before. I figured that I would enjoy it while it lasted. The alarm went off ten minutes later, which both startled and angered me, because who sets an alarm on vacation?

Tim reached an arm out and hit the alarm, then got out of bed. "Where are you going?" I croaked.

"To shower," he said. "Lots of things to do today."

_What!_ I thought. _We're here to relax!_

Sighing, I got out of bed and made it so that I wouldn't be tempted to crawl back in, then decided to see just how many of us were up. I was willing to bet money that Tim and I was the only two crazy to be up. I made my way downstairs, pausing at a bedroom door when I noticed snoring. I remembered that being Chuck's room, so I laughed at the thought of Susan having to stand that assault.

As I suspected, no one was even downstairs. Mad that I even was up on a non-school day, I flopped

on the couch and turned on the TV, flipping channels aimlessly until I hit MTV. Some random video came on, and I began singing softly to it.

Angelica came stumbling down the stairs, yawning as she headed for the kitchen. "Hey Kim," she muttered softly. She stopped and stretched, and I could hear her joints crack. "Why are you up?"

"My boyfriend is insane," I told her. "I could ask you the same question."

"I wanted something to drink. But I'm heading right back to bed. I don't want Phil to wake up and be... lonely." She gave her version of a wicked grin and disappeared into the kitchen. 

Deciding that I might as well do some exploring if I had to be up, I went down into the basement. It was full of different games, and had a pool table. I spotted a shelf full of different video game systems, and laughed when I saw an original Nintendo system, with some games. Within five minutes, I had hooked it up to the television down there and was happily playing Super Mario Bros. I was so engrossed in the game that when Tim poked his head down to find out where I was, he startled me. "Oh, sorry," he hastily said, laughing when I pouted because Luigi died. (Yes, I'm aware that Luigi is the 2nd player character, but I like him better, so I just kill Mario fast by letting the little Koopa thing run into him, and then I can play as Luigi!) "So, you ready to go?"

"Where are we going?" I said, jumping up excitedly. I wouldn't mind getting up early if we were going to, say, the beach.

"Actually, it's a surprise! Um, you might want to wear comfortable shoes."

I was a little puzzled by his request, but let it go and went back upstairs. Once I got back to my room, I changed into a set of overalls with a halter top with a swimsuit underneath. I dug out a pair of sandals that had been broken in the previous year. I trotted back downstairs, picturing Tim and I spending the day together, alone. When I got to the kitchen, I grabbed a banana and headed out to the car, where Tim was already sitting impatiently.

"Well, come on!"

I laughed and hopped into the car. "Lead on!"

*****

Five mind-numbing, foot-swelling hours later, I hobbled into the house. Shooting one last angry look at Tim, who continued to look clueless, I went up to Lil, who was on the couch flipping through a magazine. "Um, can I talk to you? Like, now?" I asked her.

"Sure." She threw the magazine down and followed me upstairs. After a moment's hesitation, we went into her bedroom. "Okay, what's wrong, Kim?" she asked, flopping down on the bed.

"He's. Driving. Me. Crazy!" I flung myself across her bed, sighing dramatically.

"Care to explain a little more?" Lil questioned, her eyebrow raised.

"Okay. So, he woke me up all extra early, but it was okay, because we were going to spend time together. But guess where we end up? At a museum. For five hours! We took a tour, sat in on a lecture, and took another tour! And here's the kicker- this was a car museum. I now know more about combustible engines than any girl should know."

"But you agreed to go," Lil said, bewildered.

"See, I thought we were going to the beach, or somewhere else fun. Looking at cars that are older than me is not my idea of fun."

"Man, you're really heated up about this," Lil mused.

"Yeah, I am. I guess it would have been all right, if he had asked. But he just assumed that I would just go along with whatever he had planned."

"And we all know what they say about assuming."

"Yeah, it makes an ass out of 'u' and 'me'. But I don't know. I don't think that Tim would purposely just ignore how I feel. I'm probably just blowing this out of proportion. I need to go talk to him," I declared, standing up.

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Hey, thanks for letting me blow off steam. And why aren't you spending time with your boyfriend?"

"I wanted some time to relax before tonight. Susan told us about this party on the boardwalk, and all of us are going. That includes you and Tim, alright?"

"Okay. Bye." I headed out her room, determined to go straighten things out with my boyfriend.

Chuck:

"Sus, are you ready?"

"In a moment!"

Not a minute later, Susan emerged from the bedroom. She was wearing an emerald swimsuit with a matching cover-up.

Chuck whistled admiringly. "Ooh, I might have to keep you in here, looking that good!"

Susan preened, smiling. "Good to know that my efforts weren't wasted. Is that what you're wearing?"

Chuck looked down at his outfit of a white t-shirt and swim trunks. "Why, what's wrong with it?"

"Nothing! I just thought that you might want to go shirtless."

"And shock everyone with my blindingly white chest?"

"Maybe you can pick up some color," Susan suggested.

"No, I go from white to red and peeling."

Susan shrugged. "Well, okay. Let's go see what everyone else is up to." She started down the steps, but Chuck stopped her.

"What?"

Chuck kissed her softly. She responded ardently before stepping back slightly. "Now now, none of that. Well, at least not yet."

"But later?"

"Oh yeah."

They started down the steps, hand in hand. Everyone except for Phil and Angelica was in the kitchen, eating. 

"Hey guys, took you long enough," Tommy commented.

"We were getting ready!" Chuck protested.

"Oh, so that's what they call it now," Joe teased.

Chuck flushed a hot red as Angelica came into the kitchen. "Ooh, I heard that," she said. She went up to Joe. "Welcome to the family."

Phil walked in and came up behind her. "Hey, why'd you leave?"

"Hungry, dude! You should be feeding me."

Without arguing, Phil grabbed a plate and started putting food on it. Dil imitated a whip-cracking sound. Phil flipped him off.

"Aww, thanks for the offer Phil, but I'm already taken. Sorry!"

"Man, Dil, you've gotten razor sharp lately." Angelica commented. "Right on!" She took the full plate of food from Phil. "Okay, see ya'll later."

"Aren't you coming to the party with us?" Lil asked.

"Nope," Phil said simply. He grabbed a fork and followed Angelica back upstairs. 

"Okay, that was different," Tommy said. "I'm just glad that they have the furthest bedroom."

Everyone made a face at that thought, then turned their attention back to the food.

****

"This is nice." At the moment, Chuck and Susan were sitting on the beach, looking at the stars.

"Very nice. Babe, let's talk." Susan turned to face Chuck.

"Okay, shoot."

"Well, it's about this summer. There's a summer internship, in Indianapolis, at a hospital. I just received an offer to attend. But I'm still kinda undecided."

"Were you looking for my opinion."

"Not particularly," Susan said, smiling to take the bite out of her words. "Actually, I was wondering if you would maybe want to come with me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's only for six weeks, so you won't be gone the whole summer. It doesn't start until July, so you won't miss graduation."

"Man, you've really thought this through," Chuck mused.

"I have! I was just going to turn it down, but I think it would be a great opportunity. This hospital is known for its teaching programs. But I didn't want to be away from you any more than I had to."

"Same here," Chuck said. He put his arms around Susan and they stretched out on the blanket that they had laid on the sand.

"So, I guess I need to talk to my parents," Chuck said after a while.

"Yeah. I haven't even told mine."

"You haven't?"

"No. My older brothers and sister have been driving my parents crazy, so I'm trying to lay low."

"What are they up to now?" Chuck asked curiously.

"The big news is that Buster's moving back home. My parents already told him that after he graduates from SMU that he would have to get a job. But now he's whining that it's a bad job market, and my parents bought it."

Chuck nodded seriously. They fell silent again, watching the waves crash on the shore.

"Hey," Chuck said suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"You know, if this goes well over the summer, I guess it would be like a test, for the future."

"Are you saying what I think you are?" Susan questioned slowly.

"Um, it's not official," Chuck said hastily. "I mean, but..."

"I know, Chuck. We never talk about the future. But I think we both know what we have here... it's not just a thing."

"Yeah."

"And in the future, which is a long way away, we might want to consider, you know, more." Susan stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay, serious talk over. Ready to head back to the house?"

"Sure. Think everyone else, well, except for Phil and Angelica, are still at the party?"

"Probably."

"So, we'll be kinda alone..."

"That's never stopped us before."

"Shh," Chuck said playfully. He stood up and pulled Susan to her feet. They grabbed the blanket, shook it out to get the sand out, and started back to the house.

Dil:

"Summer lovin', had me a blast!"

"Summer lovin', happened so fast!"

"Met a girl, crazy for me!" All of the guys, well, almost all of them, sang.

"Met a boy, cute as can be," the girls, with Dil and Joe, answered.

They sang the whole song, applauding when Dil hit the note that Olivia Newton-John did.

"Didn't know you had it in you," Joe whispered to Dil after the song was over.

Dil shrugged. "I like to sing. Just, you know, not in public."

"And this isn't public?"

"I'm with family, friends, and people I'll never see again. Yeah, this is cool."

"Okay. Well, wanna dance?"

Dil froze. "I can't dance! Crutches here!"

"C'mon! It's a slow song. I'll hold you up. And I wanna dance with my baby."

"Ooh, quoting Madonna at me! How could I resist?"

The two got up and walked a little away from the crowd. Joe set Dil's crutches down on the ground as Dil balanced on one leg. "Okay, you gonna lead?" Dil asked.

"Well, you're taller. But if you want me to..." Joe stepped up to Dil and placed his hands on Dil's waist. "Know where your hands go?" Then he saw the expression on Dil's face. "Okay, never mind! Smart ass."

Dil tried to wipe the smirk off of his face and failed. "Aw, you know you love me."

"Yeah, I do, Dillon," Joe said, suddenly serious. 

"I love you, Joseph. Now, may I have this dance?"

They swayed together for about four songs before Dil dipped his head and captured Joe's lips with his own. For long moments, they stood there, intertwined in each other. Finally, Joe pulled back. "We gotta stop," he said, panting slightly.

"Don't wanna," Dil moaned, nipping Joe's ear.

"We have to, or I won't wanna stop!"

"Not seeing the problem here." Dil switched his attention to the other ear.

"Look," Joe reached over and grabbed Dil's crutches. "We need to talk about this." He handed the crutches to Dil.

Dil, realizing that Joe was serious, sighed and walked over to a nearby bench. "Hey, what's up?"

"I know that we haven't really discussed this, but... about us, being, um, intimate, I don't think that it's time yet."

"Well, yeah. We've only been dating for four months. But I don't wanna wait," Dil admitted.

"Neither do I. But, I think it would be better if we could wait until you turn seventeen, so there won't be any question of age of consent or something."

"Wait a minute." Dil counted on his fingers. "That's seven months away!"

"Yeah."

"So you're saying that I'm cut off?"

"When were you cut on?"

Dil waved his hand around frantically. "That's not the point! Well, wait a minute. I'm going to be blunt."

"Okay," Joe said cautiously.

"We're still gonna kiss?"

"Of course!"

"How about touching?"

"Some, not all. Do we need the Good Touch, Bad Touch speech?"

"Will it come with demos?"

"Um, no."

"Damn!" Dil snapped his fingers. "I was gonna pay attention to that." Then he sobered up. "Okay, October. On my birthday."

"On that day?"

"The only present I want."

"All right." Joe gave Dil another kiss and said, "Aren't you glad we had this talk?"

"I still think I could use some demos of what kind of touches are bad, but yeah, I think it went well."

Joe sighed. "And I put up with you because..."

"You need someone who can live up to your snark level."

"Good enough."

Tommy came up to them. "Guys, we're heading back to the house. They're getting a little out of control here, and I really don't want to spend my vacation in jail."

"Right behind you," Dil said. He and Joe stood up and followed Tommy to where Lil, Kim, and Tim were all standing. 

"So, is anyone," Tommy coughed, "not able to drive home?"

Tim reluctantly raised his hand, earning a dirty look from Kim. Lil put her hand up too.

"Lil, you were drinking?" Dil asked.

"Yeah, they had this punch. Really, really good! You should have some, Dil."

"That's okay. I heard that alcohol and crutches don't mix."

"Joe, did you want to drive?" Tommy waited for Joe's nod and tossed him the keys. "Great! I'm sitting with my girl, making sure she doesn't climb out the window."

"I wouldn't do that!" Lil protested. "That would be silly." She collapsed into a fit of giggles. "Silly silly silly, Billy!"

"Um, alright!" Dil walked over to the SUV and climbed into his usual spot. Everyone followed and got in. 

The ride back to the house was uneventful, unless you count Lil's singing "Up Against the Wall" over and over, and Tim and Kim's argument in the back seat, which consisted of Kim's heated whispers and Tim saying over and over "What did I do?"

When they arrived at the house, everyone started climbing out, and Joe put out a hand to stop Dil. He waited for everyone to go into the house before he started talking. "Hey, I didn't mean to be all parental back there."

"You weren't. It's true that we don't need to jump into anything, and I am young. Sorta."

"Well, and the rules will probably change again by the time that October rolls around. Maybe we can... refine some of the things."

"Refining is good," Dil agreed.

"Okay. Now, let's enter the House of Love."

"House of Love? How do you figure?"

"Look, Phil and Angelica haven't left since we got here, and you notice that the other SUV is already at the house, meaning that Chuck and Susan are already here. Hence, House of Love."

"That's better than the name I had for it," Dil said casually.

"Which would be..."

Dil leaned over and whispered something into Joe's ear, finishing it with a lick to his earlobe. Joe sat still for about a minute before exclaiming weakly, "Hey!"

"You never said anything about licking," Dil said innocently. Then he saw the look on Joe's face and laughed aloud before grabbing his crutches and speeding as fast as he could to the door.

Phil:

"Okay. So, this week, we hung out on the beach?"

"No, we can't use that one, because we're as pale as when we got here."

"Okay." I scratched that one off my list. "Went to an amusement park?"

"No souvenirs. And the whole outside thing," Angelica pointed out.

"Toured museums?" 

We looked at each other and said, "Nah." Angelica added, "Like they would believe that, anyway."

"Oh, I got it. We did the same thing that we do at home on vacation. Laid around and watched TV, played video games..."

"I read a book or two," Angelica said, getting more excited.

"And we went out at night, which wouldn't tan us, and it's why we slept in all day."

"Great! I didn't think we'd ever find something to tell our parents." Angelica finished putting her clothes back into her suitcases. "Okay, I knew I over packed!"

"You should've done like me."

"Yeah, because only packing two sets of clothes is so me."

I sat back on the bed. "So, you're out of school for the year when, again?"

"May 15. So, the week before your prom."

"Are you going to come with me?"

"Yeah, I am. I need to improve your rep."

"Because being the most popular guy in school is so bad for me."

Lil poked her head in the doorway. "Are you two done yet? We're leaving in a half hour!"

"I've been finished," I said smugly. "I'm just waiting on my girlfriend here."

"Phil, I swear, if you didn't know that trick with your tongue..."

"Okay, way too much information. Leaving now. Hurry up!" Lil exited, her face as red as a beet.

"Oh, that was dirty." I felt sorry for my sister for all of a second, then asked Angelica, "So, you really like the thing with the tongue?"

"You betcha! Man, I thought my toes were permanently curled!"

"I'm the man, I'm the man!" I strutted around the room.  Angelica hurled a pillow at me.

"Be the man later. Could you help me take these downstairs?"

"Sure thing." I hefted the two suitcases, along with my backpack, and started to exit the room.

"Oh wait! There's something I forgot." Angelica went over to the door and closed it. "Now. I had a great time, Phil."

"Me too, Angie."

"I love you."

"I love you!" 

She kissed me sweetly, and then opened the door. "See, I had to do that now, because at the airport, I plan to sock you in the arm and say, 'hang in there, kid' in a deep voice."

"And I'll say... oh, screw it. You got the best line." I started down the steps carefully, and made it outside to where we were loading up the SUV's. We would return them to the rental place first, then take the shuttle to the airport.

"So, did someone do a final sweep, to make sure we didn't forget anything?" Lil asked.

"I did!" Susan said. "Everything is neat, and there was no incriminating evidence left."

"Good deal. Let's roll!"

We piled into the two SUV's and drove off. Tim, Tommy, Chuck and I ended up in one SUV. "So, Phil, did you even know that we were on a beach this week?" Tommy teased me.

"Screw you man. Just because I'm the daddy mack doesn't mean that you have to hate on me."

"Okay, Phil, didn't we tell you that you couldn't read "Getto Rap for Dummies" anymore?" Chuck asked.

"Tim, if you have something to add, do it now, before I put my headphones on." I started digging through my backpack.

"Hey man, I got nothing." Tim's tone made me look up.

"You okay, Tim?" I asked.

"Yeah." 

I shrugged mentally and found what I was looking for in my backpack. I slipped the headphones on and relaxed as the soothing sounds of Korn came on.

Tommy:

We got everything taken care of with plenty of time, and ended up at the airport with an hour to kill before anyone's plane was scheduled to take off. Tim, Angelica, and Susan were flying straight back to school from here.

"Okay, so, what should we do?" I asked, as we wandered around the airport."

"Let's go to the lounge." Chuck suggested.

"Don't you have to be 21?" Dil asked.

"Nope. It's not a bar. It's just a place that you can sit and kill time before you fly."

Trusting that Chuck knew what he was talking about, we followed him to this dimly lit place that was deserted. We went in and sat on the old leather couches. For a while, we sat in silence, not really knowing what we should say.

"Um, okay. I just wanna say that this was a great week." Phil said suddenly.

"Yeah, it was. Just hanging with my friends and family. I couldn't ask for more." Lil mused.

"This was just the spring break I pictured when I pictured us having one together," I said.

"So, everyone agrees that this was the coolest thing we could have done?" Chuck asked.

Everyone nodded.

"I have something to say," I said. "Um, I'm really glad that you guys are my friends."

"We're glad too! Let's jump on Tommy!" Kim leapt up and tackled me, knocking the wind out of me.

"Um, let's not. He's too frail and he bruises." Lil said dismissively.

"Gee thanks honey," I said sarcastically.

"Um, so, when's the next time we'll be together?" Dil asked.

"Probably prom time." Susan said. "I know I'm out for the year right before then."

"So, we're all going, right?" Phil asked. "I know Angie and I are."

"Yeah, I guess." Joe looked at Dil. "You'll be out of the cast by then, right?"

"Yeah I will."

"So, we'll all go, and have a great time!" Phil said enthusiastically. As he started to say more, he was interrupted by the intercom.

"Flight 150, Orlando to Indianapolis, now boarding."

"That's me!" Susan stood up. "See you guys." She hugged everyone and then left, with Chuck following her.

"Who's next?" I asked.

"Probably mine," Tim said. "Since I have that cross-country flight and all."

Sure enough, his was the next one called. He got up, said bye and walked out. Everyone looked at Kim, who was still sitting on the couch, staring at her nails.

"Um, Kim, you're not going to go see your boyfriend off?" Lil asked.

"We already said our goodbyes earlier." she answered shortly.

We didn't say anything else as Chuck came back into the room. He glanced at his sister, but Lil made a subtle cutting motion, which Chuck picked up and just sat back down quietly.

"Flight 504, Orlando to Silver Heights, now boarding."

"Oh, that's us!" Kim leapt up. She hugged Angelica quickly and ran to the gate.

We watched as Angelica said to Phil, "Hang in there, kid," and then punched him in the arm. Phil said, "You too, little lady," and chucked her on the chin.

"God, can't you too just say good-bye like normal people?" Lil protested.

"Where's the fun in that? Okay, bye guys, see you next month." Angelica walked us to the gate and watched as we all boarded. We waved to her as we started taxiing.

The flight going home was pretty much the same as the one coming. There was more people on board, so we were quieter. The in-flight movie was the same, so we fell asleep and didn't wake up until the captain told us to fasten our seatbelts.

As we exited the plane, we saw our parents standing there. My mom came up and hugged me hard. "Tommy! We missed you guys so much!"

"Okay, um, great," I gasped. "Mom, I need air."

She let go after a final squeeze. "So, did you have fun? Did Dil do okay?"

"We'll tell you all about it on the way home. Hi, Dad." 

"Hey champ." He ruffled my hair. "Ready to go?"

"Sure thing." I went over to Lil, who was telling her father about some of the things that had happened. "Lilly, can I ask you something?"

"'Kay. Dad, I'll be right back." She stepped away from her father and said, "Shoot."

"You guys going straight home?"

"Probably."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Good deal."

I walked back over to my family and said, "Let's roll!"

===========================================================================================================================

Again, thanks for your patience. When writer's block hits me, it really hits. So, chapter 7 is all about the prom! And the special thank you will be then. Until next time!


	7. May

A/N: Before I get started, I have some shoutouts to do!

Lil Kimi: Thanks for all of the support! After all, it was your story primarily that made me think of doing a Rugrats story in the first place. Hugs and kisses! And yeah, Finally Seniors is the sequel name, and it's starting right after this one's over. I have a whole series, complete with crossovers and original works planned. Yep, I'm a loser.

Starry Nights: The other person who inspired me. I wanna write like you!

I Am The Bunny Slayer: Sorry, I am bad! But glad to know that you are still digging this. No, you won't have to wait until October for more Joe/Dil action. I'm not that patient myself! 

The Energizer Bunny: Glad you love the phrases. "Dirty-dirty" is something that I use occasionally.

nanakiKeeper of the Atlantis: SHHS actually stands for Silver Heights High School, the fictional town I made up as the setting for this and some other stories that aren't published yet. 

iluvcarmel: I can't wait for the next chapter either! lol

phildude: If you don't know what the secret is by now, there's no hope. (Kidding!)

fetch: Yeah, you know that I said that a Dil/Phil pairing would affect later chapters. But thanks for the encouragment!

Need To Know Basis Only: Excellent! Gonna make my head turn, you are!

Princess_Angelica_27: Glad to know that you're digging the Phil/Angelica romance. I like 'em, too!

redrose2310: Much love for the Joe/Dil idea, but I wanna keep my R rating, not go to NC-17! 

Liyshanti: Thanks for the love, girl! Remember to write me when your story is up.

les: Guess what? I live near Purdue too! But I have a feeling that I'm not as close as you. 

Jaded Rose: Don't worry, these chapters aren't going anywhere! And I'm sorry that you took your story down, but you had to do what you felt best.

Beloved: My buddy! So, you finally discovered what exactly I've been up to in the Rugrats section. C'mon, you knew there had to be slash somewhere. It's me!

ColbyWolf: You know what? I was just thinking how much I hate OC's, but I almost always add one in my own writing. Glad that you like Joe, 'cause that would suck. Thanks!

Spanishgoddess86: Your wish is granted!

So, big thanks for all who reviewed so far. Ya'll keep the story going!

And sorry if you reviewed after I posted this. I'll try to acknowledge reviews chapter by chapter after this. So don't worry- you'll get yours!

One last thing- so so sorry for the delay on this chapter. The original intent was to finish this story with the school year, but RL is kicking my butt. So, no prediction on when the last chapter's out, but hopefully it won't take me as long as this one.

On to...

May

Tommy:

"Why are we doing this again?"

I laughed at Phil's disgruntled expression. "Because we have, um, significant others that will kill us if we don't get tuxes."

We were sitting in the tuxedo shop, getting fitted for the prom. Actually, I don't know why Phil was grumbling, because Angelica had already called the shop, telling them exactly what colors he should get and everything. All he needed to do was get the right size. On the other hand, Lil had left my choice entirely up to me, telling me that she trusted my taste. That was good, but with so many choices, I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

"Um, I kinda like that one," I said, pointing to a futuristic-looking tux with no collar and one button. It was a deep blue, and since Lil had told me that her dress was black, there wouldn't be a problem with clashing. As the salesperson turned to go get the tux in my size, I went over to Chuck, who was studying the shoes intently. "Hey, you alright?" I asked him.

"I'm fine. Why couldn't we just wear jeans and t-shirts?" he answered only half-jokingly.

"I'm sure that would go over well with Susan."

"Well, whatever. She already told me what to get."

"Man, you guys have it easy," I groused. "Lil told me I was on my own."

"You know who has it easy? Dil and Joe. All they have to do is match each other. No fooling with corsages or junk like that."

"Don't let the girls hear you say that," I warned, laughing. "Are you about finished?"

"Yeah. I'll just wear the same thing I wore last year."

"I forgot about this being your third prom," I mused.

"Yeah. It's funny though, that all the prep is boring, but the actual thing is okay. The after parties are wicked, though."

"I know," Phil piped up. He had wandered over after the salesperson had finished with him. "Did you hear about Jeff's party?"

"Yeah, but it'll get shut down. He lives in a condo, so his neighbors aren't going to let him get away with anything." Chuck pointed out. 

We started walking outside into the sunny day, when my mom pulled up with Dil. He leapt out of the car and turned a cartwheel. "I've been wanting to do that for six weeks now!" he yelled excitedly.

"Okay, Dil's not on the pain pills anymore, is he?" Phil asked me.

"Nah. Hey," I hollered out the window to Dil, "getting your stuff for the prom?"

"Yeah. I already got my tux picked out. I just gotta get it fitted."

"We have to go make sure that the girls' corsages are right, whatever that means. See you later."

"Bye!" Dil turned another cartwheel while Mom parked the car.

"So," Chuck asked as we got into the car, "What are we doing after the prom?"

"I was thinking that we could go to the official afterparty, but we know how fun that'll be. Punch and cookies, whoo-hoo!" Phil said sarcastically.

"I know." I fell silent and thought for a moment, thinking. "Well, I heard that the nerds were having a bowling party."

"Way to be PC there, Tommy," Chuck said dryly. "Anyway, they're not nerds. They're the Bowling Club."

"Big distinction there," I muttered, but dropped it before I pissed Chuck off. "So, does that sound cool?"

"Fine with me," Phil shrugged. 

"Same here," Chuck turned into the florists' parking lot.

Lil:

"Well, what do you think about... this?" I emerged from the dressing room, this time wearing a long ball gown in a powder blue.

"Um, looks old. And way too goody-goody." Kim murmured.

"Ugh!" I went back into the dressing room and pulled the dress over my head hurriedly. I came back out to where Kim, Angelica, and Susan were sitting. "Why can't I just find a dress?"

"You should have just stuck with the one you had at first." Angelica suggested.

"The black one?" I asked, surprised. "I thought you thought that one was plain."

"Well, it is," Susan allowed, "but in a good way. See, it's very flattering, and you can wear jewelry with it without overpowering it."

"I see your point," I said slowly. "Okay."

I went over to the discard rack and took off the dress they were referring to. It was a black satin dress, sleeveless and short, but not overly so. It had a sweetheart necklace as opposed to being spaghetti strapped, which gave it the impression of being both daring and innocent.

"Well, okay, I guess I can go for this one." I went up to the counter, much to the relief of my friends. 

"Girl, I thought you've have us here all day!" Kim exclaimed.

"Just because you've had your dress picked out since last year doesn't mean... oh hell, I lost my thought. Never mind."

Angelica gasped dramatically. "Oh my god, Lil said a bad word! Where's the soap?"

"I say bad words all the time!" I protested, blushing.

"Lil, you say things like heck and shoot, and occasionally darn, which makes you blush when you say it. Like now."

I wanted to growl and say something that would blister their ears, but instead, I just walked out the door with my dress. As we walked out the door, we spotted Tommy's car flying past.

"At least they're heading toward the florists'," Angelica commented.

I nodded in agreement as we got in the car. 

"Well, at least we got our dresses taken care of. Now hair. I was thinking, I might get my hair ironed out and curled." Susan said, making Kim, Angelica, and I look at her.

"Okay, I'm thinking I need more ethnic friends," Susan muttered.

"I'm wearing mine in a half bun with chopsticks stuck through the bun," Kim said. "I painted the chopsticks to match my dress."

"I think I'll just surprise you," Angelica said wickedly. "C'mon girls, we have accessories to buy."

Kim:

Later that night, as I was getting home, I walked in the door to a ringing phone. Since everyone else was out, I dove for it before the answering service could pick it up.

"Hello?" I said breathlessly.

"Kim? I was hoping I would catch you."

"Tim, hi," I said a little nervously. Since the spring break debacle (as I referred to it) had happened, Tim and I had barely spoken three words to each other. Even though I knew he was back in town for the summer, this was the first time I had spoken to him.

"How've you been?" he said formally.

"Fine, just fine, and you?" As he started to answer, I interrupted him. "Scratch that. Why are we talking to each other like we're strangers?"

There was silence on the other line for the moment.

"Are you at home?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

"Wanna meet me at the playground?"

"Okay."

I hung up the phone and left my house. The playground we were talking about was an old school with older playground equipment. None of us had went to there for elementary, but some of the people we went to high school with did. The walk took about ten minutes, and I entered the parking lot just as Tim's car pulled up. He got out of his car and we sat on the swings for about ten minutes before I broke the silence.

"This is weird."

"Kim, do you still wanna go to the prom with me?"

The question fell between us like a leaded balloon. I had considered not going, but-

"We haven't broken up." _Yet_, the little voice in my head added. 

"I know. It's just, you seem unhappy. Like on spring break."

"Well, try having your boyfriend dragging you all over the place, and see how you feel!"

"Kim, there was a time where you would have had fun there, and..." Tim's voice quieted down to a whisper. "Had fun with me."

I almost fell off the swings, I was so thunderstruck. Tim was right. When we first started going out, I let him choose most of the things we did, because I knew I was going with him, and plus, I would learn things from the museums he chose. 'When did I get so intolerant?' I asked myself.

"You're right," I said aloud. "I'm sorry." I looked down at the ground. 

"I'm sorry too. I guess I should have asked you, but I just assumed-"

"And we all know what they say about assumptions," I said, flashing back to the conversation Lil and I had in Florida.

Tim smiled at that, and I smiled too, glad to see that he wasn't upset anymore. 

"Well, wanna go do something?" he suggested shyly. "You can pick."

"How about we just play?" With that, I started pumping on the swing, enjoying the back and forth motion. "I can get higher than you!"

"Yeah, dream on, shorty!" Tim put his swing in motion. "You're on!"

We swung until my butt was numb and my hands were tired from holding onto the chains. I jumped off in midair, landing in a crouch position on the ground. Tim followed, collapsing to his side and panting heavily. I crawled over to him and nipped him on the nose.

"Okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." He got to his feet and I scrambled up, and we headed to his car slowly.

"I don't want this to end," Tim said softly.

"Neither do I," I said. "Wanna go cruising?"

"Sure." Tim gave me an odd look, but opened the car without comment. As we drove off, I glanced back at the swings, which were still moving, and felt oddly sad. I knew changes were coming in the future, but I didn't know if they were for the better or the worse.

Lil:

The week zoomed by, and before we knew it, Saturday was here. I woke up bright and early, and ran to my mirror to examine my face to make sure I hadn't broken out overnight or something. Satisfied that I still looked the same, I went over to my phone and dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hey Kim, it's me," I said, flopping back on my bed. 

"Did you look in the mirror?"

"Yeah, and I'm all clear. You?"

"Ditto. So, what are you going to do to kill time until you can get ready?"

"Honestly? Go back to sleep. I swear, I stressed over this so much last night that it would serve me right to get a zit."

"You wild woman, you," Kim laughed. "My mom and I are going shopping. You're invited, if you can manage to stay awake."

"I think I can. Let me get dressed, all right?"

"Okay. Meet me at my house in about a half hour."

"Deal." I hung up the phone and raced into the bathroom. I emerged ten minutes later (girls can be fast too) to find Phil lounging on the opposite wall.

"Hey," I greeted him. "What's up?"

"What are you about to do?"

"Go shopping with Kim and her mom. Why?"

"You think you might go to a mall?"

"Probably."

"Could you pick me up a shirt? I picked up my tux, and the shirt that came with it doesn't fit right."

I frowned at that. "Why didn't they give you another one?"

"Because apparently I don't wear a 'normal size'," Phil said, using air quotes. "So, I need to buy one, because the soonest they could get another one in is Tuesday."

"Which so won't help you tonight. Okay, I'll do it. Write down the size and everything, will you?" I went back into my room to slip on a pair of shoes while I was waiting on Phil. He brought me the piece of paper just as I was about to head downstairs. 

"Thanks again, Lil."

"No problem. Besides, I wouldn't want Angelica to kill you."

"She wouldn't kill me," Phil protested. "She would just rough me up a little."

I laughed again as I went downstairs and headed out the door.

Kim and I killed time so successfully that we were almost late getting home to get ready. I slipped into the dress, and then curled my hair and pinned it up on my head. Satisfied, I walked downstairs carefully, to where my parents were waiting. 

"You look great," my mom told me.

"Thanks," I replied. "Dad, are you taking pictures?"

"No, Tommy said that he would next door."

I nodded, used to having Tommy record all of our special events. "Is Phil still upstairs?"

"Not anymore," Phil said, running down the stairs. His tux was a retro style, complete with tails. I could see why he needed a special shirt- the ensemble would have been messed up with just any old shirt. 

"Looking good there," I said admiringly.

"Back atcha, kid," he replied. "Ready to get this show on the road?"

We headed next door to where everyone else was waiting.

Phil:

"Just one more picture!"

"Mom!" Tommy and Dil protested. Tommy sighed as he positioned the camera one last time and set the timer. He got back in the group and managed to smile just as the camera went off. 

"I think a roll of just us is plenty," Tommy said as he disassembled his tripod. "Besides, I'll take some pictures at the afterparty, not to mention that we're all getting our official pictures there."

"Well, okay," Mrs Pickles relented. 

We sighed in relief and got ready to go. I looked around at everyone, taking in their outfits, and my eyes fell on Angelica. She had chosen a stark white dress, and worn her long blonde hair down. I walked over to her and whispered, "Did I tell you how positively... angelic you look tonight?"

She smiled, pleased. "Glad you think so. You look great in that suit." She took a step back and added teasingly, "Always knew you'd clean up good."

When we walked into the hall, there was only a few couples on the dance floor. Most of the people were milling around, getting their picture taken, drinking punch, and talking to their friends.

"Man. Does anyone dance at these things?" I wondered.

"Just wait until they break out the liquor. They'll dance all night." Angelica smirked as she pulled me over to the picture line. "Come on! I wanna remember this forever and ever!"

"You are such a freak," I laughed, ignoring the curious stares we were receiving. We got in line behind a couple we knew, who were laughing at us.

"Hey Jeff, Mellissa," I greeted them.

"Hi, Phil. Angelica! How was your first year at SVU?" Mellissa grabbed Angelica and they started moving off, much to Jeff's and my relief. We immediately stepped out of the picture line and started moving toward the punch table.

"So, I heard about your big thing tonight," I said conversationally.

Jeff's face brightened up. "Yeah, it's gonna be great! Both my parents and next door neighbors are out of town. One of the guys is bringing a keg, and a whole bunch of people are getting liquid refreshment, if you know what I mean."

"Huhmm," I murmured, not wanting to agree to come until I talked to my friends about it. "Okay."

"Jeff!" Mellissa came back over to stand next to us. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay. Still nervous about your early acceptance?"

She said something in reply as they moved off. I didn't hear it, because I was thinking about something myself.

Earlier in the year, my friends and I had been glad that we weren't seniors yet, if only because we didn't have to stress about college apps and transcripts and all that. But now, we had all of one month left as juniors, and the time we had dreaded was fast approaching.

Angelica came back up to me, sliding her hand in mine. "What's wrong? You seem pretty lost in thought."

"I was," I admitted. "Just thinking about next year."

"Oh. College and all that? It's not that hard if you have an idea of what you wanna do. Do you?"

"Not a clue," I said glumly, slumping my shoulders.

"Well, have an idea of what college you wanna go to?"

"One not too far away from you, and hopefully most of our friends." I replied immediately. "But other than that, no clue, again."

"Well, we have plenty of time to discuss this, that's not here." Angelica tugged at my hand and we started walking. When we ended back up in the picture line, I made a face, which Angelica caught. 

"What? You thought I was letting you skip the whole picture thing? Nice try, DeVille."

Dil:

"We are gonna dance, right?"

Joe stopped and looked at Dil. 

"Don't try to act like you don't know what I'm talking about. We got our picture, talked to all of our friends, hung out at the punch bowl, and even ran Pat home because she got sick. This is our prom, and I wanna dance!" Dil grabbed Joe's hand and started tugging him towards the dance floor.

"Are you sure? I mean, the people might be different, but the situation's still the same... you notice how many stares we've gotten already this evening?"

"I've already had the worst happen. I need... I need this, okay?" 

Joe stopped resisting and kissed Dil quickly. "Love you."

"Love you too," Dil replied, smiling. "Now, shake it!"

They stepped onto the floor, where a fast song was playing. Dil laughed as they started moving to the beat, singing to the words under their breath. 

"Now, grab your partners tight," the DJ boomed out. "It's time for... a slow jam."

The song was slow and seductive. Dil immediately took Joe by the waist and pulled him as close as he could. "I love this," he whispered, "dancing with you."

"Must be my mad skills."

Dil snorted quietly as they swayed back and forth. The song was going into the second verse when Dil noticed some people pointing and staring. "Don't look up," he said softly to Joe, "but some people are not digging this."

"Do you care?" Joe asked, not moving.

"Not particularly." Dil looked over at Tommy, who was standing next to Lil. Tommy caught his eye, and started walking over with Lil. Somehow, by the time Tommy was close enough to be in earshot, the whole gang had gathered. Silently, they formed a circle around Dil and Joe.

"What?" Dil asked, not understanding what they were doing.

"Enjoy your dance, Dil," Tommy replied, raising his voice slightly. 

"Play another slow one, DJ!" Phil yelled out.

Chuck didn't say anything, but smiled reassuringly.

"If I cry because of this, don't call me a total sap, okay?" Dil whispered huskily.

"I'm touched, really I am." Joe replied. 

"Yeah. We have the best friends."

As they danced, more people joined the circle, until half the people there, including chaperons and students Dil didn't even know, were standing around them.

"I think I'm not afraid anymore," Dil said wonderingly. "I was kinda worried that it might happen again, but it won't."

"No, not with our gang."

After the second song ended, Dil and Joe stopped dancing, and walked off the dance floor, but not before thanking their friends and family.

"Come on, we just wanted to be dramatic. You're giving us too much credit!" Angelica cracked.

Everyone laughed as they went their separate ways.

Chuck:

Chuck and Susan were dancing to a slow song, when Chuck stopped dead.

"What?" Susan asked, concerned.

"It just hit me. This is my last high school dance. You and I will never come to another thing like this as students of SHHS."

Susan nodded in understanding. "Finally realized what being a senior means?" she asked, smirking a little.

Chuck returned her smirk. "Yep." He looked around the room, to where his various friends were still dancing. "They'll all be here next year, and I won't."

"But you know what? You'll be too busy in your new life to really miss this."

"Think so?"

"Know so." Susan smiled and snuggled against him.

Tommy came up to them. "We're about ready to go. How about you guys?"

"End of this dance, we'll meet you outside, okay?" Chuck asked.

"Sure." Tommy moved off.

Tommy:

So, we ended up leaving before the actual prom was over. Chuck was right; the actual prom itself was okay, but the afterparties were what the night was about. We stopped in at Jeff's house briefly, but it was so packed out (and the people so drunk) that we were afraid of staying there. We went to the bowling alley where the nerds (okay, the Bowling Club) were at. That was the must fun, watching the gang bowl in formal attire. I took pictures as we watched Chuck get a turkey (he bowled three strikes in a row), and Kim scratched as she went over the line and almost fell. (For the record, I bowled a 102, not too bad.) Afterwards, we ended up at the diner that we had been to before.

"Okay, I thought that the food was only bad before because of the circumstances, but no. This is just crappy food." Angelica looked at the chicken fingers she had ordered. Some were still frozen, and others were burnt hard.

"You should've done like the rest of us and just ordered coffee and pie," Susan pointed out. "You know, like on TV, everyone always orders coffee and pie at diners."

"So is this the part of the evening where we affirm our love for each other and the group?" Lil asked jokingly.

"We did that last month," Tim dismissed, waving his hand. 

"Okay, than I say, this is where we hurl lame insults at each other. Um, Phil," Chuck pointed, "Um, okay, you... are whipped."

"Yeah, yeah," Phil said in a bored way. "Tell us something we don't know."

We fell into talking about the school year in general, and the fact that it was almost over. 

"I wonder what next year will hold," Joe said.

"If it's anything like this year, we will earn our afterschool special." Kim groused. "I just want a calm, peaceful senior year."

"Not me," Phil declared. "Next year, there should be a personal vendetta against our group that lasts the whole year and comes to a climax next June."

"Okay, no more '24' for you," Angelica said drily. "Personally, I'll be glad when all of us are done with high school. College rules!"

"According to you," Tim said. "I can't believe that I have three more years of this."

"I think I'm in the middle of you two," Susan added. "Not really bad, but not great, either."

"Well, Chuck, you'll be finding out soon enough!" Phil said fondly. 

"Yep. It's hard to believe that graduation is next month."

"And then, onto summer!" we shouted.

========================================================================

Next chapter will be the end of "The Junior Year"! Can you believe it? So, no predictions, but soon, hopefully. Thanks!


	8. June

August 7

A/N: And so it ends! Oh, my little story's all grown up now, and ready to fly! Okay, ignore that last sentence. Besides, you already know that this is the first in a series. Next up after this, "Cruel Summer", which will be a short (three chapter) story going over the events of the summer. And after that, "Finally Seniors", which is pretty self-explanatory, don't you think?

And thank you, thank you, thank you for all the great reviews. Ya'll made this story what it is!

Now, a very special conversation between me, Wicked Wonder, and the cast of "The Junior Year". Enjoy!

_WW: Where have you guys been! Here I was, all stoked after chapter 7, and ready to finish the damn thing, and ya'll up and quit on me!_

_Tommy: Sorry. Some of us were kind of... busy. (Glares at various members of the group)_

_WW: Well?_

_Kim: Um, Phil taught Tim that tongue thing. (Shivers) I still have aftershocks._

_WW: Way too much information. Anyone else?_

_(Joe, Dil, Phil, Angelica, Chuck, and Susan all raise their hands. Tommy and Lil glare at them.)_

_Dil: In my defense, Joe and I refined some of our rules._

_(Wicked ah's understandingly. Dil smiles broadly.)_

_WW: Well, I guess the important thing is that ya'll are here now. Let's roll!_

_(The group follows her out.)_

_Tommy: (whispering) Ever notice that she uses that phrase a lot?_

 And one final note: So, here I was, thought I was being smart for making the colleges listed in this story either made up or really well known. I just found out today (September 27) that SMU is a real college! Now, I was disparaging about it, and I will be in "Seniors". I'm sure that the real SMU is a good school, even though I don't know where it is or anything. But while the name's the same, there are no intended similarities. Thank you. Whew!

Now for...

June

Tommy:

After the prom, time seemed to both speed up and slow down. We were all ready for the school year to be over, especially Chuck.

"Man, you just don't know! Thirteen long years-"

"You were skipped, and I've attended as much school as you," I interrupted.

Chuck waved his hand dismissively. "Details, details. It feels like forever!"

"Whatever. You're almost finished! Hey," I said slowly as a thought came into my head, "Why are you here? This is Senior Cut Day, right?"

"Yeah. I'm about to leave right now. I just had to drop off Kim."

"Why didn't you just ask me to pick her up?" I asked, confused.

"Because a whole bunch of us are going to an amusement park, and we're meeting here."

"Okay, well, have a good time!" I watched as Chuck walked off, and went to go to homeroom. Everyone else was already there, waiting. 

"How did you get sidetracked from our cars to here?" Phil asked curiously.

"I ran into Chuck. He's actually participating in Senior Cut Day, can you believe it? And next year, that'll be us!" I grinned at the thought.

"I say we do something totally crazy, like bungee jump or something," Kim said excitedly.

"That would work for those of us who aren't, I don't know, totally afraid of heights or anything," Lil said offhandedly, looking down at her hands.

"Oh, I totally forgot! Sorry, Phil." Kim glanced at Phil, who was also studying his hands. 

He leapt up and said, "It's all right. I'll be right back. I forgot to tell Angie something."

"Tell me again how he manages to fly?" I asked Lil.

"I don't know, because we really don't talk about it. Keeps his mind off it or something. I just want to know how Angelica's going to take being wakened before 10."

"I think she's working this summer. So she might already be up and about," I mused. "New subject. What are you guys getting Chuck for his graduation. I was thinking my old standby, gift certificates, but I'm not sure."

"Guys are hard to shop for," Kim groused. "So, he's getting a new messenger bag. He refuses to carry something else, and the one he has right now is pretty beat up."

"I was thinking that I could get him this shirt. It's like a bowling shirt, retro, and on the back is Saturn. It's quirky." Lil dug through her backpack and pulled out a picture. "See, and I can have his name embroidered on it. Thoughtful and personal!"

Phil re-entered the classroom and sat back down. "What are you talking about now?"

"Gifts for Chuck," Kim explained.

"Gift certificate," Phil said immediately. I put out my hand, and we slapped five.

"You guys are just wrong," Lil laughed. "Next year, we probably won't give gifts, will we?"

"Let's make a pact. We won't buy gifts for the four of us, or if we do, we won't feel bad if someone else doesn't." Kim spoke up.

"Deal," we all chorused.

Lil:

"So, to review, _Macbeth_ was about the themes of greed..." 

I sat back up with a start and looked around, hoping that no one saw my brief nap. I caught Joe's eye and he nodded sympathetically. 

After class, he came up to me. "Why isn't school over yet?" he groaned.

"Beats me. Believe me, if I could skip the rest of the year without getting in major trouble, I would. See you after school, right?"

"Yeah. Am I still bringing the, um, you know?"

"Yep." I smiled and then went up to Kim. "Everything's all set on your end, right?"

She nodded, looking mischievous. "I told Chuck that we were having one final swim team practice for the year. Thank goodness he doesn't pay attention to sports. Tim's supposed to be watching me."

"And Tommy said that he had to work, and Phil's excuse is that he and Angelica are going out, which takes care of their excuses. Susan recruited Chuck to help her 'pack for the summer', so he'll be gone for the evening. She said she'll call when he's on the way home." I ticked off the names with my fingers. "Let's see. Joe said he had a meeting with the editor of the paper, and Dil mentioned a pickup basketball game."

"What about you?" Kim asked.

"I couldn't come up with anything good, so I just said that I had a ton of homework and was planning to stay in. Besides, what are the odds that Chuck would call me, wanting to hang out? I figured that as long as the usual suspects were out, then we would be okay."

"So, see you later." Kim moved off, and I went to go round up the rest of the gang. 

Phil:

We all stared at each other. "You mean, between the eight of us, we can't come up with one single idea?" I said, breaking the silence.

"Guess we shouldn't have waited until a week before graduation to decide that we were giving Chuck a surprise party." Tim shrugged.

"I still say that we should just kick it old school and go to Chuck-E-Cheese," Kim said stubbornly.

"Just because you would like it, doesn't mean that Chuck would. He'd kill us all," Tommy said. "And I'm not ready to die."

"What about a trip to the movies? There's that new one out that I know he wanted to see." Joe suggested. "It was decent."

"I know, but that seems kinda low key," Angelica interjected. "Plus, we can do that anytime."

"What if we get our parents to agree to let us go to Leviton? If they trusted us to go to Florida by ourselves, then Leviton should be a piece of cake. And there's all kinds of stuff you can do there." Dil grew excited at the idea. "And we could stay overnight in a hotel!"

"You know, that's a good idea, and there's some hotel packages at work that we could use," Angelica mused.

"There's museums that Chuck would like, and cultural junk like that," I added.

"And if we decide to do nothing but veg, then it'll still be fun!" Kim jumped up and started dancing. "We're going to Leviton, because Silver Heights is lame!"

"Oh, Joe, show 'em the mock-up, before I forget," Lil said. "It turned out cool, you guys."

Joe pulled out a cardboard blow up of our school newspaper, the Banner, with a picture of Chuck on the front. The headline read, "Chuck Finster Graduates! Friends, family not surprised at all."

"He'll like it, especially after he reads the articles." I declared. We had all written personal messages to Chuck, including our parents, and put fake ads through the eight page paper.

"He'll be mad at the picture that Mom and Dad submitted," Kim said. "What made them think that he would really want his kindergarten picture on display?"

"Parents," we all said in unison.

"Okay, then, it's time to assign jobs. Let's make Susan be the one to get Chuck to where he needs to be after the ceremony." Angelica looked around the room. "Any objections?"

No one said anything, so she continued, "I can call on the hotels, and Phil, you can research all of the 'cultural junk'."

"Thanks, babe," I said sarcastically.

"Joe, you and Dil are in charge of the paper already, so Tommy, you and Lil can be the ones who clear parental permission for those of us who need it. Tim, you can work with Phil to plan an schedule if we need one, and Kim, guess what? You're in charge of packing for Chuck, so he won't get suspicious."

"Joy," Kim muttered.

"Any questions? No? Get to work!" Angelica waved her hands in a 'get busy' gesture, and everyone scattered, even Lil, which was weird, because it was her room. I stayed behind to follow Angelica. 

"I hope you only use your powers for good," I said before kissing her softly.

"Most of the time," she laughed.

Dil:

"School's out for summer! School's out forever!" Dil jumped down a flight of stairs before adding a quick, "Almost."

"In a good mood, are we?" Joe came up behind him and hugged him briefly.

"Very much so. Two more days, and this year is history! Next year, my boyfriend will be a big bad senior!" 

"Looking ahead, I like that. Listen, I gotta tell you something." Joe tugged Dil's hand to his car. 

"Nothing bad, right? Because I don't want my high killed just yet."

Joe hesitated, which was enough to make Dil sober. "Okay, the thrill is gone, so you can spill it."

"I got my letter back from camp. I'm reporting the week after school ends."

"How long?" Dil asked quietly.

"Almost the whole summer. I'll get some breaks between sessions, but they'll only be for a day or so at a time."

Dil nodded, thinking. "Well, at least, I can't be jealous of six-year-olds."

'Will you be okay with this?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, I'll deal. We'll see each other, and I can go to Kim for advice. If she could deal, so can I. Plus, I'll get a job, and talk to my parents about the car they've been promising ever since I got my license."

"I'll miss you," Joe said. "Okay, I sound more and more like a girl every time I open my mouth."

"Join the club. Now, to take our minds off of this, let's drown our sorrows in pizza."

"Sounds like a plan to me." They jumped in Joe's car and drove off.

Chuck:

Chuck stared at the blank piece of paper for it seemed like an eternity. The total cleanness seemed to be mocking him, so he sighed and got up from his desk. He found his sketch book and had just flipped to a fresh sheet when his door opened. 

"Hey, ya busy?" Kim asked, flopping on the bed.

"No," Chuck sighed. "I'm supposed to be working on this stupid senior will thing, though."

"Sounds easy to me. You tell your friends what you would give them, right?"

"They're not just supposed to be objects, though. Like, memories. And what about the fact that I'm supposed to give my senior friends stuff? I don't have any senior friends!"

"So break tradition," Kim said practically. "What, is there some kind of senior will police that will bust you? Do this your own way."

"I can do that," Chuck mused, a smile playing on his face.

**The Senior Will of Charles Finster III**

**To Tommy, I give times in the sandbox.**

**To Phil, I give all the times you stood up for me in elementary.**

**To Lil, the tutoring sessions in junior high.**

**To Kim, my first picture. (It was a turtle!)**

**To Dil, Susan's sweater.**

**To Angelica, my various fears that you caused. (I forgive you!)**

**To Tim, the talks you gave me.**

**To Susan, now and forever.**

Kim:

"So, are you nervous?" I asked Chuck, as I watched him straighten his cap.

"A little. I have to march first. And I've never liked being the center of attention." He yanked down his gown and grimaced a little. "It could be worst. I could have actually been valedictorian or salutorian."

"You were only beaten by three tenths of a point," I reminded him.

"I know. But I'm glad. It's not like I didn't get into the school I wanted because of that." Chuck adjusted his cap one last time and smiled. "Okay, let's get this show on the road."

I smiled too and followed him out of his room. Mom and Dad were waiting downstairs, waiting to take Chuck's picture. I swallowed a grin at Chuck's expression at being asked to hold still for an entire roll. 

"I'm still driving your car, right?" I asked Chuck as we walked outside. 

He glanced at me. "I think you're more excited about that then me graduating!"

I shrugged. "It's not my graduation." Then I grinned hugely. "Just kidding. Toss me the keys already!" 

He did and I caught them neatly. I slid behind the wheel as Chuck got in Dad's car. "See you there!" I shouted and zoomed off before he could shout any instructions to me. 

The high school lot was already full by the time I got there, but I spotted Tim's car and parked near his. I walked over to the stadium, which was where the graduation was being held. Lil was waiting by the entrance. "Kim, move it!" she shouted.

"I am!" I protested, but picked up my steps anyway. "So," I said when I got close to her, "are all of you guys sitting next to each other?" 

"All except for Phil. He's running late. We saved seats for you and your parents."

"They'll be along right after they drop off Chuck," I told her. "Should we wait for them here?"

"Let's." We stood outside and watched as excited parents and friends entered the auditorium. "Hey," I shouted as Phil ran past us. He spotted us and came over to us.

"Why are you guys out here?" He craned his head around. "The crowd's thinning out."

"Waiting on Mom and Dad," I explained briefly. "Everyone else is at the seats, so if you wanna go on up, you can. Left side."

He nodded and ran up the stairs.

"So, does Chuck suspect anything, you think?" Lil asked, smirking.

"Not a clue. He kept telling Mom and Dad how glad he was that he wasn't having a party, and when Dad called him on it, he said that if he was getting a surprise one, someone in the group would have blabbed it by now." I grinned broadly. "We really got him this time!"

My parents finally came up (they had to wait for Chuck to check in, they said) and we went to the seats. I don't know how Chuck managed to get tickets for over 25 people, but everyone we knew was sitting with us. I talked to my friends throughout the ceremony. It was boring, but seeing Chuck move proudly across the stage was worth the fifty million speeches we had to sit through before.

"You know, I want to go for valedictorian," Lil said unexpectedly.

"Really? Why?" I asked.

"It'd be cool. Plus, it's not like my grades are that far away."

"I know that. You make straight A's, even though you hide that. I just meant, what made you decide right now?"

She shrugged. "I guess I'm starting to realize that next year is our last chance to get it right, and I want to go out with a bang." She looked over at one of the other seniors that we knew and I thought about what she said, and decided to file it away for later.

After the ceremony, all of us went back to the Finster-Watanabe house for a small open house. We hid upstairs while the adults sat around downstairs.

"So," Chuck said, trying to be casual, "what's happening after this?"

"What do you mean?" Tommy said innocently. He and Lil were snuggled up next to each other. "I'm thinking we might go eat, but that's up to you."

"Nah, let's just stay here," Phil yawned hugely. "Been a long day."

"You guys suck!" Chuck said, frustrated. "I know you have something planned."

"You said you didn't want anything! We took you at your word!" I defended. Tim was sitting next to me, shaking with silent laughter at Chuck's expression.

"I was just trying to be nice in case you didn't plan anything!"

"Well then, there you go," Dil commented. "I'm hungry. I'm going downstairs to steal some more cake."

"You've eaten more pieces than anyone else combined!" Chuck pointed out.

"What can I say? I'm a growing boy." Dil grinned and ran down the steps.

"Actually, that cake was good," Lil mused aloud. "I could go for another piece."

"Whatever! I want some of that cheese ball that your mom made." They went down the steps next.

I watched Chuck's confused expression as the rest of us, except for Susan, claimed to be starving and went downstairs. He started to follow them, but Susan whispered something in his ear that made him laugh and then kick me out the room. I trooped down the stairs and went over to where my friends were waiting.

"Well?" Angelica asked.

"Susan's keeping him upstairs until we give the signal. Everyone ready?" I asked. I took in the nods before continuing, "Is all the food put up?"

"Yeah, your parents just finished. They're meeting us there." Joe answered.

"Okay. Lil, you're on!"

Lil ran up the stairs. I heard her walk loudly past Chuck's door before slamming my bedroom door shut. She ran back down the stairs, slightly out of breath. "Okay, five minutes. Roll out!"

We jumped in our cars and hurriedly started the engines. Somehow, I ended up in a car with Joe and Angelica. "How'd we do?" I asked, turning around in the front seat to look out the window.

"Good. No sign of 'em. You did give Chuck back his keys, right?" Angelica was in the backseat, watching for Chuck's car.

"Yeah." Satisfied that the plan had gone off without a hitch, I turned around and smiled.

Tommy:

"We're on schedule. Proceed," I said into my cell phone.

Lil snorted with laughter. "This isn't a covert operation, Tommy. Saying 'we're good' would suffice."

"Spoil all my fun," I mock groused. 

Dil, who was sitting next to me, spoke up. "Um, you're about to pass the entrance."

"Oh!" I did a quick turn and parked my car next to my parents'. Phil, who was in my backseat, leapt out of the car and ran into the restaurant. When we followed at a slower pace, he doubled back and urged us on. 

"We've got time!" I protested, but obeyed anyway. Once all of us were inside, we called Susan to make sure they were on the way.

"Hey, Susan, it's me. If we're all set, say 'yes, the appointment's Tuesday', but if it's not, say 'Can we reschedule?' If you need more time, say, 'I forgot the day'."

Kim snatched the phone from me. "Forget that, Susan. Just say yes or no." Kim listened and then smiled. "Thanks bunches, see you in a few." She hung up the phone and handed it back to me. "Listen, they're on the way. This is gonna rock!"

And it did. Chuck grumbled as he walked through the door, saying something about ungrateful friends. When he finally realized what was going on, he grinned so hard that it made up for all of the aggravation that we'd gone though to pull this off. When he found out about the trip, he actually jumped up and down.

There's not a lot to say about the trip, other than it was cool. All of our planning fell by the wayside as we vegged, swam, and generally had a good time. Once we were back in town, it was time for our annual town picnic.

At the picnic, all of us sat together, as usual. We had loaded up our plates and claimed our picnic table. "Okay," Angelica said after we were all eating, "Who's leaving town this summer?"

Chuck, Susan and Joe raised their hands. "I just got permission from my parents just last night," Chuck explained.

Susan looked at him, surprised. "I thought you had asked them months ago?"

"I did. They, I dunno, debated or something. Anyway, it's all taken care of."

"Where are you off to, Joe?" Lil asked.

"I'm working at a camp as a counselor. The pay's okay, but you get cool perks, not to mention it looks good on a resume."

"How're you coping with that, Dil?" I glanced at his face, which had an expression of patient resignation.

He slumped over in his seat. "Honestly? Denial." Dil sighed and then straightened up. "I'm starting to sound more and more like a teenage girl, aren't I?"

"Yep," we all chorused and laughed.

"So the rest of us will be in town?" Kim asked, smiling up at Tim.

"Yeah. It'll be a pretty low-key summer. Vegging and working. Whoo-hoo!" Lil said sarcastically, but then smiled. "Still, it'll be cool."

"It will?" Kim asked innocently.

"Yeah, because I'm here! And I bring the party!" Phil stood up and pointed to himself. "It's all about me, baby!"

Angelica cleared her throat. "I'd like to clarify that statement. It's all about your baby, right Phil?"

"Yes, of course. That's what I meant. Me and my baby." Phil threw his arm around Angelica and squeezed her. 

Everyone started laughing and planning their summer in detail. I sat back and watched them, thinking of how lucky I was to have such a cool group of friends. Even though this hadn't been the easiest year we could've had, we got through it together.

"Whatcha thinking about, Tommy?" Lil asked me softly.

"This year. Us." I spread my arms to encompass the whole group. 

"It was different, wasn't it?" Kim turned her attention to us. 

"I learned that bossy blonde girls are the greatest," Phil said.

Angelica shot back, "I learned that brunette boys are total pushovers, and that's what I love about 'em!"

"I learned that even when nothing's like you expect, things can still work out," Tim said seriously.

We considered those words, and then agreed. "To the unexpected!" I said, holding up my can of soda.

My friends laughed and toasted.

END

A/N: It's finished! Thanks again for the reviews, and to my own friends, who are even crazier than these ones. "Cruel Summer" is starting soon. Love ya, bye!


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